You Can’t See Every Debut, Dept.: I recently saw Paul Thomas Anderson’s 2021 comedy-drama, Licorice Pizza. Like most of PTA’s work, it’s meandering, pointless, filled with characters of varying eccentricity and appeal…y’know…much like your life. And I can’t help but love it.

The film, set in 1970s Los Angeles San Bernadino, CA, is apparently based on real-life events of child actor (and later movie/TV producer) Gary Goetzman. Alana Kane, a young Jewish woman in her mid-twenties (played by newcomer Alana Haim) while working as a photographer’s assistant meets Gary Valentine, an ambitious high-school student and professional actor (played by newcomer Cooper Hoffman) at his school on Photo Day. While waiting in line for his turn he asks her out for a drink, which amuses the older Alana. The film then follows them in their lives together and separately, how their relationship progresses, ebbs and flows…y’know…much like your life. When Gary sabotages his acting career on live television—he’s one of the child actors in a show suspiciously like Yours, Mine and Ours with Christine Ebersole as someone suspiciously like Lucille Ball—he doesn’t miss a beat in inventing new entrepreneurial ventures and with each, insists on involving Alana.

There are surprise appearances by Bradley Cooper who plays a disturbingly hilarious Jon Peters (Barbra Streisand’s boyfriend, as he’s wont to point out), Sean Penn as Jack Holden, a fictional famous actor and Tom Waits as fictional famous Hollywood director Rex Blau.

In fact, the driving force behind this movie is the performances by all involved, especially the lead roles. The performances are commanding enough to draw you into their stream-of-consciousness world and keep you there regardless of the complete lack of a plot…y’know…

_{Edit 2023-07-05_7:35 GMT+01}