Licorice Pizza movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Licorice Pizza

RATING: R

LENGTH: 2 hours 13 minutes

IN A NUTSHELL:

I know I am REALLY late to this party! I’m trying to catch up on reviewing all of the movies that have been nominated for Academy Awards. Paul Thomas Anderson offers a quirky coming-of-age movie that captures the mood of nostalgia and growing up in the 1970s. He did the color tinting himself, invited many of his personal friends and family to be in the movie, and based the film on real-life stories that were told to him about the time period. The atmosphere Anderson creates is palpable with fantastic cinematography. He features Hollywood personalities and landmarks that were significant back in the day. It has already been nominated for several Oscars.

THINGS I LIKED:

This is the feature film debut of Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman. They both did an excellent job on their roles. I love it when new actors get their break. We will definitely be seeing more from both of them in the future.
Cooper Hoffman was born into movie greatness; his dad was the late Academy Award winner Philip Seymour Hoffman! Apparently Philip Seymour and the director, Paul Thomas Anderson have been great friends for years. Anderson said he has been directing Cooper Hoffman since he was a young boy since he used to make home videos with all of their combined kids. When he asked Cooper Hoffman to star in this movie, Cooper was hesitant. Anderson explained that was a very, very good indication of a strong, intelligent young man.
The film proudly boasts one Academy Award winner (Sean Penn), and three nominees (Bradley Cooper, John C. Reilly, and Tom Waits).
Alana Haim’s character is played by her real-life family. Before I learned that, I was super impressed with casting! Did you know that Alana and her sisters are in the Grammy-nominated rock band called Haim? It would have been fun to hear her sing something in this movie.
I adore John Michael Higgins and thought his scenes were some of the funniest in the entire movie.
The list of cameo performers is impressive and also includes Maya Rudolph, Christine Ebersole, Harriet Sansom Harris, Joseph Cross, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Skyler Gisondo.
There are a lot of funny and creative one-liners that people will be quoting for a long time.
The clever movie poster features some of the cameo performers and the whimsy of the story.
There are a ton of fun facts about the making of this movie. For example:
Fun fact 1: Leonardo DiCaprio’s father in real life plays the man in the movie who sells Gary a waterbed in the movie. The director’s kids also appear in the movie.
Fun fact 2: Bradley Cooper appears in some entertaining scenes in the movie. Until they actually shot his scenes, Alana and Cooper never even knew he was going to be in the movie. He plays Jon Peters who produced A STAR IS BORN back in 1976. Bradley Cooper co-wrote, produced, and starred in the 2018 remake of the movie. I loved that movie!
Fun fact 3: Pinball machines were actually banned in Los Angeles from 1939 to 1973 because it was declared they were a form of gambling. I live in Las Vegas where we have the world’s largest pinball machine museum. Well, it’s not really a museum because you get to play with all of the pinball machines, as well as other nostalgic arcade games!
Fun fact 4: Paul Thomas Anderson’s father used to be the announcer of the Carol Burnett Show. I loved that TV show when I was a little girl! Carol Burnett personally provided clips of the show for Anderson to use in this movie.
Fun fact 5: This is the 4th time the director has dedicated his movies to a deceased director he admired. This one was dedicated to Robert Downey Sr.
Fun fact 6: The term “Licorice Pizza” is slang for a vinyl record. It was the name of a record store chain in Los Angeles. Based on the title, it would have been nice if they had done more with the story to relate to records and music.
Fun fact 7: The original title for the movie was “Soggy Bottom” based on the working name of the waterbed company featured in the story. I actually had a waterbed when I was a teenager!

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

I didn’t really like either of the two main characters very much. They were both self-absorbed, rude, disrespectful, and insensitive. That being said, the two leading actors were really fantastic.
Not all of the humor landed for me.
Some viewers will wonder what the point of the entire movie is, as it often wanders in a seemingly aimless way.