Business

Alana Haim Makes a Memorable Debut in the Overly Self-Satisfied Licorice Pizza

Films which seem to be the most endearing end up looking the worst. Writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘70s retro romance Licorice Pizza has plenty going for it: a vivid San Fernando setting, to remind clueless East Coasters that Los Angeles is hardly synonymous with Hollywood; a breezy soundtrack that avoids all the era’s usual suspects (so long Abba’s “Dancing Queen,” hello Suzi Quatro and Chris Norman’s “Stumblin’ In”); and, perhaps best of all, a fantastic breakthrough performance by an actress none of us saw coming.

But Licorice PizzaIt is casually effortless, and Anderson seems to be happy about it. And while the story’s lead woman character is the best thing about it, somehow Anderson’s focus still tilts more toward the guy. Gary Valentine, a fifteen-year-old actor played by Cooper Hoffman is an accomplished and confident performer. He isn’t picky about how he makes a buck: one minute, he’s dutifully auditioning for a Sears commercial requiring an acrobatic quick-change routine involving a three-piece husky-sized suit; the next, he’s setting himself up as a waterbed entrepreneur. It’s all the same to him: he’s the king of the hustle, at least among the Clearasil set.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]

But his savoir faire fails him on school-picture day, when he meets a girl—or, more specifically, a woman of 25, an employee of the photographer—who wants nothing to with him. With her deadpan gaze, she looks like she’d rather be anywhere else. All legs and sandals and bad attitude, Alana Kane—played by Alana Haim, of the pop-rock outfit Haim, in her first acting role—strides into the movie wearing that ingenious and mystical garment known as a skort. How come birds seem to fall from the skies every time she passes? You’ll know when you see this movie.

Gary falls for this blasé goddess immediately, paddling around her like a not-yet-housebroken puppy. His requests for a date are rejected by her, citing their age differences as a deterrent. But, the true problem is his ineptness behind his eagerness to please. “Stop! I can hear you breathing,” she says, exasperated, as he scuffles around her, invading that thing we now call personal space. He eventually wears her out. They go on a thing that’s not really a date; then they become grudging friends but also business partners. But there’s always some romantic jealousy percolating beneath the façade of indifference they present to each other. The suggestion is that they’re meant to be more than just friends.

Anderson has said that Gary’s character was inspired by the teen exploits of producer and former child actor Gary Goetzman, and the movie does have an entertaining, insiderish vibe—you leave it fully convinced that, in the Valley, in the 1970s, the fake it til you make it strategy could really work. There are some wonderful details here. These gags remind us that this filmmaker gave us woolly, perceptive delights such as Hard EightAnd Boogie Nights: the way Gary pretends to misremember the phone number Alana has just recited to him, even though he’s already committed it to heart; the appearance of Skyler Gisondo, a former child actor himself, in a small role as a suave teen heartthrob—his entrance, in a turtleneck-and-blazer combo, should light the Internet on fire, if the Internet had any sense; a tiny but smashing John C. Reilly cameo that’s best left undescribed, so you can discover it yourself.

Soggy Bottom / Fat Bernie's
Melinda Sue Gordon—© 2021 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures Inc. All Rights Reserved.Cooper Hoffman and Alana Haim in ‘Licorice Pizza’

Anderson, in his unsculpted style: Licorice Pizza isn’t as dot-every-i meticulous as The MasterOr Phantom Thread, and that’s a plus. Still, there are excesses that could have been excised: Bradley Cooper’s extended bit as hotheaded hairdresser and Barbra Streisand beau Jon Peters wears out its welcome. And Anderson can’t resist including not one but two scenes in which John Michael Higgins speaks loud mock Japanese, for alleged laughs—as if retro-mocking white boorishness of the past were in some way a corrective.

These little distractions can distract attention away from Haim or her performances, and that is the big problem. Alana Kane lives with her sister, alongside her Haim parents. She’s not sure what to do with her life, and she sees it melting away before her. She needs a little of what Gary’s got: part of it is youthful brashness, but mostly, he’s just got an exuberant, entrepreneurial spirit. The actor who plays Gary, newcomer Cooper Hoffman, is the son of Philip Seymour Hoffman, one of Anderson’s signature actors, and his presence here feels like the continuation of a circuit. The younger Hoffman has an easy charm; his smile has the same mischievous curve as his dad’s.

But while Gary, with his rambunctious ambition, is leagues ahead of most 15-year-olds—“I’m a showman! It’s my calling!” he blurts out by way of advertisement early in the movie—he’s still not good enough for the celestial wisecracker who stands before him. Haim’s Alana, with her silky slouch and ever-alert eyes, is a live-wire of understated contrasts. She’s the cigarette you shouldn’t smoke, the stop light you shouldn’t try to run. Haim is always behind Alana, which means Haim can do everything without Gary. She has her insecurities, but they’re a temporary state. Her impatience is a virtue—it stands to protect her from idiots.

But Licorice Pizza doesn’t give Alana Kane the ending she deserves. This movie ends in a stale, wishful fulfillment fantasy instead of the sweet and bittersweet ending that it seemed to be heading towards. Why does the terrific girl always have to settle for the sweet but not quite adequate suitor, just because he’s trying the hardest? According to the conventional wisdom, audiences won’t melt if they are given a good mouth-breather. It’s an automatic triumph if he gets the girl, even if she has to fold herself up smaller to fit his happy ending. Licorice PizzaThe goal is to reach teenage boys, all ages, with hopeful and optimistic messages. You can be you and she will soon stop looking at you and start to see the light in your eyes. It’s easy, really. Especially if you never stop to call up from the bottom of the pedestal, suddenly realizing that you’ve forgotten to ask her what she wants.

Tags

Related Articles

Back to top button