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Licorice Pizza

100 Movies of 2021

Licorice Pizza

2021

Paul Thomas Anderson

Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Sean Penn, Bradley Cooper ...

6.5

17,706

Comedy. Drama. Romance Licorice Pizza is the story of Alana Kane and Gary Valentine growing up, running around and falling in love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973.

	Media	Author	Review
		Peter Debruge Variety	"A pair of terrific first-time performances — from Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman — propel the director’s most endearing movie yet"
		Rodrigo Perez The Playlist	"'Licorice Pizza' is a wonderfully wistful and evocative ode to youth, done by a masterfully poised filmmaker who doesn’t really care if this ain’t your bag."
		Peter Bradshaw The Guardian	"This is lighter and sunnier than previous Anderson pictures (...) It’s such a delectable film: I’ll be cutting myself another slice very soon (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Justin Chang Los Angeles Times	"[Anderson] pieced together something that feels more concrete, more achingly, tangibly real, than just about any American movie this year."
		Phil de Semlyen Time Out	"[It] is so buoyant and bubbly, it practically floats off the screen (...) 'Licorice Pizza's greatest coup, though, is its casting (...) Its two headliners are born to their roles (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Manohla Dargis The New York Times	"Anderson keeps the camera and characters beautifully flowing through minor and major adventures of varying interest"
		David Rooney The Hollywood Reporter	"Creating a character whose warmth and humanity are tempered by hilariously deadpan humor and prickly detachment, Haim makes one of the most exciting screen debuts in recent memory."
		David Ehrlich IndieWire	"Anyone nostalgic for the 'Magnolia' days will be delighted by the latticework of tracking shots and long dollies [Anderson] busts out here"
		Peter Travers ABC News	"Don't mistake [it] for a minor work from a major director, clearly the best of his generation (...) His portrait of youth alive to the pinwheeling joy of possibility is irresistible and one of the very best movies of the year"
		Johnny Oleksinski New York Post	"2021's best movie (...) Totally unique and endlessly surprising, [it] is carefully sentimental and knock-down, drag out funny. Faultless writing. Rich and colorful cinematography. Fantastic acting (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)""
		Pete Hammond Deadline	"With a killer soundtrack, it’s a delicious mix of real and remembered, made up and made funny, wild and crazy moments in our past"
		Alonso Duralde The Wrap	"It’s a magical evocation of a time and place as remembered from life and from the movies of the era"
		Richard Lawson Vanity Fair	"This effectively captures the often aimless jumble of adolescent exploration (...) But I found myself wishing for a little more cohesion, for some sense of purpose"
		Tim Grierson Screendaily	"Anderson’s coming-of-age story is fully immersive and pleasingly laidback (...) Alana Haim creates a marvellous portrait of a disaffected twentysomething struggling to find direction"
		Richard Roeper Chicago Sun-Times	"A visual feast brimming with razor-sharp dialogue, hilarious comedic vignettes, brilliant performances, and some genuine heart. This is one of the very best movies of 2021 (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"
		Jim Tudor Screen Anarchy	"There's nothing wrong with 'Licorice Pizza' (...) This is Anderson's most approachable movie; also his most rewatchable. There are big laughs in this custom dish. It altogether leans in to audience-friendly territory"
		Stephanie Zacharek Time	"[It] has plenty going for it (...) But 'Licorice Pizza' feels pleased with how casual and effortless it is, which is the exact opposite of being casual and effortless."
		Carson Lund Slant	"It's the hints of danger that lend the film its sneaky depth of feeling (...) Love is shown to be an escape from reality, a regression to a youthful state of innocence (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"
		A.A. Dowd AV Club	"Funny, shaggy, scattershot (...) Alana Haim delivers a star-making performance (...) For better or worse, this looks like the shaggiest and most rambling movie of Anderson's esteemed, ever-evolving career"
		Dana Stevens Slate	"In large part thanks to its fresh-faced stars, the charming Hoffman and the wildly charismatic Haim, I'm hard pressed to think of a recent movie whose world I would have liked to stay in longer."
		Chris Evangelista SlashFilm	"Alana Haim is a revelation (...) Watching 'Licorice Pizza' reminded me why I love movies so much. If [this film] had stretched on for another hour, I would've been perfectly content to go along"
		Ryan Swen The Film Stage	"Anderson's coming-of-age adventure is funny, romantic, and danger-filled (...) Hoffman and Haim are quite natural and relaxed in the way they carry themselves"
		M.N. Miller Ready Steady Cut	"'Licorice Pizza' is an invigorating comedy that has a surprising amount of depth that sneaks up on you (…) Rating: ★★★★½ (out of 5)"
		Leah Greenblatt Entertainment Weekly	"Masterful (...) 'Licorice Pizza' is a love letter to an era, and more than that a feeling: a tender, funny ramble forged in all the hope and absurdity of adolescence"
		Tara Bennett IGN	"What Anderson doesn't give us is the inner lives of anyone in the film (...) An effective time machine [and] strong performances all around"
		Alison Willmore Vulture	"If it isn't able to offer a perfectly offbeat romance on the level of 'Punch-Drunk Love' and 'Phantom Thread', it's not discardable, either."
		John Serba Decider	"'Licorice Pizza' is a captivating, enchanting, roughhousing film, like few others, possibly like no other"
		Charlotte O'Sullivan London Evening Standard	"The leads (both newcomers; both nominated for Golden Globes) are perfection (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"
		John Nugent Empire	"There is precision and intention to everything (...) Looser and funnier than his recent efforts, sharper and more formally assured than his earliest films, this is Anderson operating at full capacity (…) Rating: ★★★★★ (out of 5)"
		Ann Hornaday The Washington Post	"'Licorice Pizza' is at its best — and is genuinely charming — when it’s simply focused on Gary and Alana (…) Rating: ★★½ (out of 4)"
		Brian Truitt USA Today	"Anderson delivers a warm tasty slice of adolescence as well as two fresh-faced youngsters that will satisfy cinephiles for years to come (…) Rating: ★★★½ (out of 4)"
		David Fear Rolling Stone	"The film is such an intimate, personal look back that you almost feel like you’re flipping through someone’s old scrapbook."
		Christy Lemire rogerebert.com	"Anderson has harnessed all the thrilling, muscular techniques that are his directing trademarks as well as his affection for high drama as a writer and applied them to telling a story that’s surprisingly sweet (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"

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Licorice Pizza

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