Licorice Pizza

Name: Licorice Pizza
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Released: November 26, 2021
Duration: 133 min
Rating: 90
Cast: Alana Haim, Anthony Molinari, Ben Safdie, Ben Stiller, Bradley Cooper

2021

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 55 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 245 Ratings

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6.6

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6.6	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 245 Ratings

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Licorice Pizza

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Movie Details & Credits

United Artists Releasing | Release Date: November 26, 2021 | R

Starring: Alana Haim, Anthony Molinari, Ben Safdie, Ben Stiller, Bradley Cooper, Charlotte Townsend, Craig Stark, Deana Molle', Emily Althaus, Emma Dumont, John C. Reilly, Joseph Cross, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, Maya Rudolph, Nate Mann, Sean Penn, Skyler Gisondo, Tom Waits, Zoe McLane

Movie Facts:

Named best picture of 2021 by the National Board of Review. More awards and nominations...

Summary: 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. Written and Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, the film tracks the treacherous navigation of first love.

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Genre(s): Drama, Comedy

Rating: R

Runtime: 133 min

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Metascore

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Critic Reviews

100

Christopher Machell

Jan 10, 2022

A joyous, hazy and nostalgia-inflected romantic drama. Read full review

100

Carson Lund

Nov 20, 2021

It’s the hints of danger, employed like ghost notes in a shuffling rhythm, that lend the film its sneaky depth of feeling. Read full review

100

Mick LaSalle

Dec 21, 2021

Watching Licorice Pizza is simultaneously like watching life with all the boring parts cut out and like watching movies with all the phony parts cut out. Read full review

Dana Stevens

Nov 23, 2021

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. Read full review

Richard Brody

Dec 1, 2021

Haim brings a constant and instant focus even to riskily inchoate emotions, and Hoffman lends his driven energumen a lambent glow of innocence. Both inhabit the screen with a sympathetic responsiveness and a rare immediacy. Their incarnation of the ardors and audacities of youth is among the marvels of recent movies, and with them Anderson rediscovers something greater than his own youth—the youth of the cinema itself. Read full review

Brian Truitt

Nov 25, 2021

With Licorice Pizza, Anderson delivers a warm tasty slice of adolescence as well as two fresh-faced youngsters that will satisfy cinephiles for years to come. Read full review

Tara Bennett

Nov 24, 2021

What Anderson doesn’t give us is the inner lives of anyone in the film. Read full review

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User Reviews

RightThen

Nov 28, 2021

One of the best films of the year. Funny, warm, and a lot of fun. Alana Haim is wonderful.

12 of 17 users found this helpful125

Moviefan1313

Jan 2, 2022

Really enjoyed this one. Alana Haim in phenomenal and one of the best debut performances I’ve seen in my lifetime.

1 of 6 users found this helpful15

beno1998

Dec 27, 2021

A wonderful story told through the eyes of two young people in love. I really enjoyed this film; the story and acting were excellent.

1 of 7 users found this helpful16

HingleMcCringle

Feb 26, 2022

A solid slice of life movie with good performances by a lot of first time actors and a bunch of small roles by talented veterans. The writing was funnier than I was expecting from the trailer and the line deliveries were spot on and they did well replicating the feel of the era it's set in.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

benjanzen

Feb 28, 2022

Licorice Pizza was not really for me. The aimless and often plotless nature of this film felt off-putting and strange, and I was never able to fully get invested in the story, nor the characters. It's really well helmed by PTA, creating an authentic and raw 70s world that was fun to beLicorice Pizza was not really for me. The aimless and often plotless nature of this film felt off-putting and strange, and I was never able to fully get invested in the story, nor the characters. It's really well helmed by PTA, creating an authentic and raw 70s world that was fun to be immersed in, but I kept being pulled out of the story by some of the plot decisions. I do believe that this was PTA's intention, it just didn't really work for me!… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

everett

Feb 15, 2022

Who are these people, and why should I care about them? This isn't "young love," either; it's an inappropriate relationship, and if the genders were reversed, it would be seen as a much more problematic issue. Why isn't it here? Is Paul Thomas Anderson pulling a fast one on us? Is he the oneWho are these people, and why should I care about them? This isn't "young love," either; it's an inappropriate relationship, and if the genders were reversed, it would be seen as a much more problematic issue. Why isn't it here? Is Paul Thomas Anderson pulling a fast one on us? Is he the one laughing, at everyone who's looking the other way and falling all over this film because of his reputation? That kind of dynamic is worth examining.

I barely managed to get through it. Despite all the running these two protagonists did, it was very slow! And the female lead was so difficult to root for, so unlikable. I just don't understand the adulation for this film; if an unknown director/writer had come up with it, I wonder if it ever would've been made. The joke's on us, I'm afraid.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

Frohaf22

Apr 6, 2022

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is a classic love hate American drama, the start is pretty ok, but it degenerates into long scenes that takes you nowhere only for a lame ending where they kiss each other. That's the movie as predictable as it gets… Expand

0 of 2 users found this helpful02

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11	#11 Best Movie of 2021
38	#38 Most Discussed Movie of 2021