Paul Thomas Anderson has consistently been one of the more interesting filmmakers in the past 25+ years, both writing and directing his films. After a strong feature debut with the gambling-themed Hard Eight, he had a major hit with Boogie Nights, looking at the porn industry, based in the San Fernando Valley where Anderson grew up, through the 70s into the 80s. Next, he did Magnolia, also set in LA, that followed multiple stories intersecting in unexpected ways. It gave Tom Cruise one of the best roles of his career. After a strong character study with Punch Drunk Love, with the performance by Adam Sandler that he likely wants to be remembered for, Anderson expanded his vision. He adapted Upton Sinclair 1920’s novel “Oil!” which told of the early years of the American oil industry, and made There Will Be Blood, getting Daniel Day-Lewis his second Oscar. His next film was The Master, a fictionalized look at the early days of Scientology, and he then returned to LA for an adaption of Thomas Pynchon’s mystery Inherent Vice before reunited with Day-Lewis for Phantom Thread, set in 1950’s London.
Along with his feature films, Anderson has done dozens of music videos, starting with Michael Penn (brother of Sean), then working with Fiona Apple, Aimee Mann, and Radiohead. In 2017, he directed his first video for the sister group Haim, who also hail from the San Fernando Valley. He’s now done ten of their videos. Anderson had a special contact with Haim, in that their mother was one of Anderson’s teachers when he was in school.
Now he’s returned to the Valley of the 1970s with Licorice Pizza. If you’re wondering about the name, it’s slang for long play vinyl records (LPs for short) and was the name of a record store in the Valley where a scene from Fast Times at Ridgemont High was filmed, a movie that influenced Anderson.
Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman) is the epitome of the American entrepreneur even before he can drive a car. While waiting to have his school portrait taken, he begins hitting on one of the assistants, Alana Kane (Alana Haim), inviting her out for dinner. Alana knows she’s the proverbial older woman – she’s 25 to Gary’s 15 – but she finds herself intrigue by him and does join him for dinner at the classic valley restaurant Tail O’ The Cock, where Gary’s on a first-name basis with the maître ‘d. When Alana asks how he can afford the evening, Gary explains he was a child actor but now runs a publicity firm which actually employs his mother.
From there, the story twists and turns with Gary and Alana essentially bound together even as they deny they have a relationship. When Gary’s mother Anita (Mary Elizabeth Ellis) is unable to chaperon Gary to a reunion in New York City of the cast for one of his movies, Alana steps in, and ends up becoming interested in one of Gary’s older co-stars, though their nascent relationship doesn’t survive a disastrous supper with Alana’s family. Gary discovers waterbeds and opens his own store, with Alana doing sales while wearing a bikini. Alana, at Gary’s urging, tries to break into the movie business. It leads to a bizarre evening at the Tail O’ The Cock with a Hollywood legend (played by Sean Penn), and even weirder motorcycle stunt. Gary’s waterbed business is ruined by the Arab Oil Embargo, but he does do one final installation for Hollywood producer Jon Peters (Bradley Cooper). And that’s not even all of their misadventures.
The crazy thing is that many of the stories are based on real life. The original inspiration for Anderson was walking past a school and seeing a student try to chat up an older woman. Most of the incidents are based on stories told Anderson by producer and actor Gary Goetzmann, who was a child actor and had a waterbed business while still a teen, along with other things portrayed in the movie. Goetzman is mostly known today for co-founding with Tom Hanks the production company Playtone. He’s produced or executive produced some of the best TV and movies in the last 30 years, including “Band of Brothers,” “The Pacific,” Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and many, many more. The movie Alana reads for was an early Clint Eastwood film called Breezy, that starred William Holden and Kay Lenz; Anderson uses the actual script for the scene.
Of particular fun is that Anderson filled the cast with friends and relatives, and a large number of parents or progeny of famous people in the film business. There’s a couple of Spielberg’s daughters in the film, Tim Conway’s son, and the man who sells Gary on the idea of waterbeds is played by Leonardo DiCaprio’s father. One interesting casting is Cooper as Peters. Anderson had talked to Peters about having him be a character in the film, since Goetzmann had actually installed a waterbed for the producer. Bradley Cooper had wanted to work with Anderson for years, but having him play Peters highlights a connection between the two men. Cooper’s hit version of A Star Is Born counted as a remake of previous films, including the Barbara Streisand/Kris Kristopherson version from the 1970s. Peters had produced that film and owned the rights, so he was given a producer credit on Cooper’s film, though Cooper has said Peters had no actual involvement in the new version.
The most important casting, though, was Cooper Hoffman and Alana Haim. Cooper is the son of Philip Seymour Hoffman, who was close friends with Anderson and appeared in several of his movies. Cooper had no interest in acting until Anderson asked him to do the role of Gary, but he captures the character with all the panache his father demonstrated in his acting career. He’s charming and precocious, as well as frustrating and infuriating – in other words, real. Just as important is Alana Haim, the youngest of the Haim sisters, in her acting debut. She’s totally at ease and natural in front of the camera, and you believe her as the character. One moment that particularly stands out is when she has to pilot an out-of-gas delivery truck backwards down from Peters’ house in the Hollywood Hills. She makes it down safely, but then you see her sitting on the curb, shaking from the rush of adrenalin. Not a word is spoken, but it’s a powerful moment. (It also helps that Anderson cast her sisters and their mother and father as Alana’s family in the film. Strangely enough, Alana had met Cooper when he was 13, when the sisters went over to Anderson’s house while Philip Seymour Hoffman was there as well, and they ended up essentially babysitting Cooper.)
While it was nominated for three Oscars (Best Picture, Director, and Original Screenplay), Licorice Pizza was shut out at the recent event. You can’t fault the Academy voters for picking CODA, Jane Campion, and Kenneth Branagh’s Belfast, each of which was deserving. But I hope with streaming and home video more people will discover the delights of this slice of clear-eyed 1970s nostalgia that ends up having a huge heart for its characters. It will stick with you, like an earworm from a particularly tasty piece of licorice pizza.
omnivorous cinephile 