Licorice Pizza
Coming-of-age drama by Paul Thomas Anderson (Magnolia, Phantom Thread) about the long-standing platonic relationship of two young people growing up in California in the 1970s.
Raised in the San Fernando Valley, Alana Kane, and Gary Valentine have never met before picture-taking day at Gary’s high school. Alana is no longer a student but is a young woman seeking to find and define herself beyond her uninspiring job as a photographer’s aide. Gary has already established himself as a working actor – and is quick to tell Alana this in an attempt to impress her. She is amused and intrigued by his preternatural confidence and they strike up a heartfelt if awkward, rapport. Seeking to strengthen this connection with Alana, Gary wangles an opportunity for her to be his chaperone during a New York television appearance; on impulse, she agrees. The TV appearance does not go exactly as planned and once back in California, each of them questions their future.
On their own or side by side, both Gary and Alana experience a series of epiphanies that are both uproarious and bittersweet: close encounters with a famous actor, a Hollywood producer, and a local politician. Both self-aware and at loose ends, Alana and Gary blaze through a time and place that carry for them the thrill of first love, entering adulthood, and the discovery of newfound potential – perhaps, most of all, in each other.
The film was nominated for four Golden Globe Awards and is also a contender in the Oscar race.