Licorice Pizza - A Heartfelt, Gorgeous Movie Led By Two Incredible Performances
Licorice Pizza
I'm so glad I could catch "Licorice Pizza" before it left theaters. It's been a film that (while I wasn't impressed by the trailers) I wanted to see because of Paul Thomas Anderson. He has yet to direct a movie I haven't liked, and there's just something about his films and the way they look that never fails to blow me away. "Licorice Pizza" fits right in as another incredible film from PTA. The comparison of it being his "Once Upon A Time... In Hollywood" feels pretty apt. He and Tarantino both have earned a film like this, a film to reminisce and reflect on. PTA takes us down to a smaller scale than Tarantino did, and I'm glad he went a different route. Something about this period has always fascinated me. I'll never get to experience what it was like in this time, in this place, so I love every taste I can get, and I loved how Anderson framed this particular vision. He has directed one of the best-looking movies of the year, for sure. The theater experience did aid this movie despite the smaller scale; seeing PTA's magnificent cinematography on the big screen and getting to admire every detail was fantastic. It's one of the most beautiful-looking movies I"ve seen in a while.
The directing is impressive, but the main performances of the film are too. I've been saying that Rachel Zegler in "West Side Story" (2021) is my favorite performance of the year. Dicaprio in "Don't Look Up" is close. Alana Haim is also not far from giving the Zegler a run for her money, and both of them are pretty new to acting, and that astounds me. Haim is so endearing in this role. You can't help but love her and this character. Cooper Hoffman was marvelous as well. He played this character with an incredible level of ease that blew me away. At the same time, though, PTA did an excellent job showing the uncertainty of youth, how interests can change, how everything can change. Coming of age stories haven't always been my thing, but "Licorice Pizza" struck a chord with me that I wasn't expecting. Paul Thomas Anderson brings such beautiful emotion to the movie.
Anderson injects the most humor into "Licorice Pizza" than just about any PTA movie I've seen. The comedy works surprisingly very well. It provided a lot of pleasant chuckles and then some outbursts of laughter at some of the hilarious performances in the film. Bradly Cooper, in particular, is great, over-the-top, and a lot of fun. Some of the jokes comment on the unfortunate race issues that were a prominent part of this period, specifically Asian racism. I do think you can commentate on real issues through comedy. I laughed at some of these jokes, and then I could sit back and see what PTA was conveying through this scene. The humor worked, but so did PTA's broader and weighty themes. I thought he struck an excellent balance of humor and weight in his themes. I understand that's been a complaint from some people, but I didn't have a problem. Maybe that's just me.
"Licorice Pizza" is one of the strongest films of the year. The cinematography and directing are magnificent. The two leads crush their roles, and the rest of the movie has other fun supporting players like Cooper and Penn. PTA put together some excellent themes about coming of age, including some of the issues happening around this time. The man has put together an incredible body of work thus far. "Licorice Pizza" ended up being an enjoyable movie that I can easily see myself watching again. My dad and I both had a fun time with this movie yet were touched by the movie's heart and emotion.
Strong Recommend
9/10
- Noah Newcomb
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