Paul Thomas Anderson and I have a very unique relationship. I like/love most of his films (like There Will Be Blood (2007), The Master (2012) or Phantom Thread (2017)), but I can’t say I “get” the love for him. Don’t get me wrong, I admire the guy, and he is obviously a talented filmmaker, but he isn’t on my watch list for every new film he makes. But I have heard many good things about Licorice Pizza, so I got intrigued, and when it became available to stream, I finally got the chance to watch it. And based on the overall rating (currently 7.2/10 on IMDb), I understand I am in the minority who thinks this film is “just ok”.

I will generalize Licorice Pizza; if you grew up in the 70s in America, there is a higher chance you will absolutely adore this movie. Because I believe it captures that period very well. But at times, it feels too much “inside baseball” because to truly appreciate how accurate this film is, I would have to be there. And since I wasn’t there and didn’t grow up in the USA during the 70s, everything this film showed me left me kind of… cold. It’s a fascinating phenomenon, I wasn’t bored per se, but the movie also never sucked me into it enough to care about anything/anybody in it. Does that make sense?

But here’s the thing though with any other director, this would lead to a pretty harsh review, but with Paul Thomas Anderson, he gives me so much to chew on (camera work, aesthetic, interesting enough characters) that I never fully “hated” this film. And this is where I was split on this film being just ok. Technically, it’s a well-made film by a filmmaker who clearly knows his stuff. But despite some “fresh” actors that were outstanding in their roles, I didn’t care about the characters and what they were going through.

Speaking of fresh/new actors, Alana Haim is the beating heart of this film and Cooper Hoffman is this film’s brains. Neither is better than the other they complement each other so well it’s hard to imagine this movie without either one. Cooper is the son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, and based on his performance, it seems he might follow in his dad’s footsteps and become a great actor. The same goes for Alana; I would love to see her in more films. I know that’s not as likely to happen, given she seems to be a musician first, but I hope that during this movie shoot, she caught the “film bug” and will at least dabble in acting; from time to time.

There are some other big names in this film (mainly Sean Penn, John C. Reilly and Bradley Cooper), but even with those, you have to do your “homework” for you to understand who their characters are/were. As pretty much everybody was based on living people, if you want to go down that rabbit hole, great. But during the film, especially if you don’t have that knowledge, these characters can appear so quirky it can be almost distracting.

And here is where I will compliment Anderson’s genius one more time. Throughout all my criticism, the film itself warned me, you and everybody by its title – Licorice Pizza. That name itself tells you pretty much all you need to know – you will be in for a strange, seemingly one-long ride with a bunch of characters that might or might not be your cup of tea. It’s almost like Anderson understood he made a film only for certain people and mainly for himself. And he had the courtesy to let us know with that title.

Overall, Licorice Pizza is a unique film that I can’t say whether people might or might not enjoy to recommend it; or warn people from watching. Everything in this film is pretty straightforward; the narrative almost doesn’t exist as it’s mostly a series of vignettes centred around two young people and their “will they/won’t they” dynamic. If that sounds like something you might enjoy, then by all means, Licorice Pizza might be your jam. If you prefer more of a narrative, where you follow one story with some resemblance of a structure, you might want to avoid this film. There is a bonus category for all Americans born in the late 60s and early 70s, as I believe that would be the closest to some sort of “target demo” for this unique film.

That’s all for this one! Did you see it? What did you think about it? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke