Nathan Rabin's Happy Place's Definitive Guide to American Movies about the Film Industry
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Licorice Pizza (2021) FM
Paul Thomas Anderson’s early immersion in show-business figures in his 2021 semi-autobiographical coming-of-age comedy-drama Licorice Pizza but not as prominently as you’d imagine. While Anderson rose to fame behind the camera his cinematic surrogate Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman) makes a precocious living in front of the camera as an actor. Gary’s acting career reflects his internal drive and entrepreneurial spirit. He’s interested in anything that will bring him money, fame, and the attention of pretty girls. Despite the nature of its writer-director’s fame, Licorice Pizza somewhat puzzlingly seems more interested in Gary’s adventures selling water beds and pragmatically pimping pinball.
Alana Haim of the rock group Haim delivers a star-making debut performance as Alana Kane. She’s an immature and directionless young woman in her late twenties floating through life. That changes when she meets Gary, a fifteen-year-old who is as precocious and mature as Alana, who is immature and emotionally stunted. Gary pursues Alana relentlessly, but Alana resists for various reasons, the most valid of which is not wanting to commit statutory rape.
Alana falls backward into an acting career when Gary introduces her to his eccentric mother hen of an agent. The Hollywood professional responds positively to her youth, offbeat good looks, and magnetism. Alana ends up auditioning for a film starring warped movie star Jack Holden. Though the character is based on William Holden, there is also an unmistakable element of self-parody to the performance.
While selling waterbeds, Gary encounters future Hollywood powerbroker Jon Peters (Bradley Cooper). Cooper steals the film by portraying Peters as a manic maniac who thinks he’s the ultimate street tough despite being a hairdresser who owed his early power and fame to being Barbra Streisand’s boyfriend. Cooper is not the focus of Licorice Pizza, but he is its most electric and unforgettable element.
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This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.