Licorice Pizza Review

Licorice Pizza Review 

Licorice Pizza was the 9th Best Picture nominee that I watched in preparation for my Best Picture Nominee ranking this Sunday. So here is my review of the movie, let’s get started!

RATING: R (Sugesstive Dialogue and Language)

WHERE TO WATCH: Amazon Prime Video and Apple Tv+

The Good: 

I thought this movie’s best aspect was the directing by Paul Thomas Anderson. Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the most celebrated and most beloved directors out there. And there is a reason for that, he knows how to direct scenes in a very interesting manner. Whether it’s just two people talking or a more exciting scene, it’s all done with a lot of style and talent to it. I haven’t seen any other of Paul Thomas Anderson’s work so I don’t have that point of reference to his other work. But I think this is a greatly directed movie. 

Also, I think that Paul Thomas Anderson wrote a great script with great dialogue. What works so well about the script is it doesn’t feel like a movie script. When you have the two leads talking about life or work or whatever, it doesn’t feel like movie characters. It feels like how two real people would talk. And like I said earlier, I haven’t seen any of Paul Thomas Anderson’s past work so I don’t know how good all of his other scripts are. But I’d imagine that all of his scripts are very well written, and some of the best of the year. 

Another positive here is the cast all around is just great. Everybody is giving it their all, there isn’t that weak link in the movie. Both Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman are first time actors in this movie, and both of them are great. If this is their first performance in a movie then I’m very excited to see where their careers go in the future. Even the supporting cast as Bradley Cooper and Sean Penn, some great actors to put into a movie like this. 

Finally, this is a movie that does a great job of transporting the audience back to the year 1973. From the soundtrack, to the costumes, to the production design it all feels like Paul Thomas Anderson took the audience back to a different time period. 

The Bad:

And the big thing here is that the concept and idea for this movie is pretty weird and gross. And I know that Paul Thomas Anderson wanted to tell this coming of age story. But having a 25 year old girl start “dating” a 15 year old boy is really weird and illegal. And if the gender’s role were reversed then the movie would be a totally different story. And it’s like Paul Thomas Anderson felt like he got away with this concept. But at its core, it’s a bit uncomfortable to watch this movie play out. I found it to be pretty weird that of all of the ideas that he could do for a coming of age movie, this was the one he came up with. 

Also, this is a movie that feels way too long. The movie is 2 hours and 13 minutes long, but it feels longer than that. My grandma and I watched it, we paused it around the 35 minute mark and it felt like it had already been like an hour. Then we got around to the 2 hour mark. It felt like it had been like 3 hours. And 2 hours and 13 minutes isn’t a super long movie but for whatever reason. Maybe it’s because a large portion of this movie is just people talking about sex, work, and body parts for about the middle act of this movie. I think this movie could have been shortened up by like 5-10 minutes, and closer to 2 hours long. 

Finally, this is a movie that seemed like it started off as one thing and ended as a different thing. I started off with this coming of age movie with two people. And as it goes along it starts talking more and more about business and politics. And then ends in a happy romantic way. Maybe it was just me, but I certainly felt like the middle and third acts weren’t set up by the first act. Again, maybe I missed something there but I felt that way watching this movie. 

Final Thoughts: Overall, I know that Paul Thomas Anderson has a style to his movies. Here the direction and writing by Anderson is great and top notch. The performances and production are also great here. But the concept, run time, and story telling her really do hold this movie down for me. 

The Score: 7.9/10 (C+)