'Licorice Pizza:' A Sweet Love Story and Paul Thomas Anderson's Lesson in Artistry
Last night, I attended the United Artists Releasing Screening of Paul Thomas Anderson's "Licorice Pizza" at the SVA Theater in Manhattan. Nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay at this year's Academy Awards, the film explores how two young lovers, played by first-time actors Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman, navigate being each others' first loves in the San Fernando Valley in 1973.
The film, a love letter to 1970's Los Angeles, unfolds beautifully, immediately transporting the audience back in time. Haim and Hoffman exhibit a natural chemistry that belies their first outing as actors - Haim is youngest sister from the band Haim, while Hoffman is the young son of legendary actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. The two present as complicated, flawed individuals whom you wish would simply get together already! Finally, the spot-on music choices help create an indelible tableau of the period. My advice: bring a date, sit back, and relax.
Directly after credits scrolled across the screen, there was a Q&A featuring Anderson, Haim, and Hoffman. The trio spoke of their experience filming "Licorice Pizza" during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how Haim and Hoffman approached playing their characters, who are based off of real people Anderson grew up with, including film and television producer and actor Gary Goetzman. The film's reputation of being a "family and friends movie," with Haim's entire immediate family playing her family in the film and Anderson's partner Maya Rudolph and their four kids appearing as well, was also mentioned.
When asked if the film felt different than his previous films, Anderson noted that he didn't necessarily make the movie with big ambitions in mind, saying "the dream scenario for this film was that if, you know, 20 summers from now, somebody's programming a drive-in movie theater and it's a hot August night, they'll want to show this film." And indeed, after watching "Licorice Pizza," I can totally see how the film would be the perfect movie to screen on a hazy summer night.
When asked how he prepped to play complex leading man, Gary Valentine, Hoffman explained, "I think I found more about myself when I was looking at Gary than even when I was trying to figure out what Gary was like. I think I found out what I was like in a weird way because I couldn't...because I didn't really know how to act, so there wasn't a proper way to prep for this. It was kind of like, 'Okay, what parts about myself are most like Gary? Let me go off of that.'"
Additionally, Haim revealed how the two new actors gradually eased into shooting, saying, "So, the first week was John Peters, so me and Cooper kind of had the opportunity to hide behind Bradley Cooper, and be like, 'No one's looking at us!' And we were fine with it. We were like, 'And just look at Bradley Cooper and maybe we'll just slide in and we'll be fine.' But then the next place we went to was when Alana and Gary are fighting for the first time, where, you know, Gary's looking at pinball machines and 'I'm a politician.' And, it was crazy because I mean, think about it, that's pretty much at the end of the movie, and the first thing we had to shoot was us fighting. And, I remember that day so vividly. We were both very nervous because we couldn't hide behind Bradley Cooper anymore. We really desperately wanted him. Really, can John Peters come back for this scene? And we'll just stand in the back and be fine? But, I remember we, you know, we choreographed the whole thing, where we were going in and out, and it was really just me and Paul and Cooper. We put our heads down, and we were like, 'We gotta do this.'"
Speaking on how the fight between Alana and Gary was a turing point for the new actors, Haim went on to say, "And, when we shot that scene, I mean, the fact that me and Cooper could feed off each other and feel comfortable enough to not only do this scene, but also to improv, to kind of play around with, you know, cigarette smoke and lighting a match and all these things. We felt free enough to do that at that point, I feel like when were done, we were like, 'I think we can do this. I think we're going to pull this off.' And, that was such a beautiful moment, even though that's such a sad part of the movie, when Alana and Gary finally are just done with each other was such a pivotal point in this experience because it made me feel like, I feel like for both of us, feel like we had the confidence to kind of take on so much of the movie."
With "Licorice Pizza," Anderson, Haim, and Hoffman have really captured something extraordinary. Though I'm not sure if the film will ultimately capture the Best Picture prize, "Licorice Pizza" is surely one of the best films I've seen so far this year and is a worthy trip to the cinema. Or, maybe you can save it for that hot summer night at your local drive-in theater.
"Licorice Pizza" was released in select theaters on November 26, 2021, followed by a nationwide release on December 25, 2021.
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