Back to trending
Licorice Pizza

Licorice Pizza

Drama · Comedy · Romance · 2021

The story of Gary Valentine and Alana Kane growing up, running around and going through the treacherous navigation of first love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973.

Movie details

Licorice Pizza

2021 Drama · Comedy · Romance 2h 13m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.9 / 10

Community rating

The story of Gary Valentine and Alana Kane growing up, running around and going through the treacherous navigation of first love in the San Fernando Valley, 1973.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Licorice Pizza?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

The First Time

The First Time

Drama · 2012

A spark of attraction smolders, then ignites, between two teens from different high schools who meet by chance at a party.

Lucas

Lucas

Comedy · 1986

A brilliant but socially inept 14-year-old experiences heartbreak for the first time when his two best friends – Cappie, an older-brother figure, and Maggie, the new girl with whom he is in love – fall for each other.

The Wood

The Wood

Comedy · 1999

In the panicky, uncertain hours before his wedding, a groom with prenuptial jitters and his two best friends reminisce about growing up together in the middle-class African-American neighborhood of Inglewood, California. Flashing back to the twenty-something trio's childhood exploits, the memories capture the mood and nostalgia of the '80s era.

Empire Records

Empire Records

Comedy · 1995

The employees of an independent music store learn about each other as they try to stop the store from being absorbed by a large chain.

Say Anything...

Say Anything...

Romance · 1989

Average student and eternal optimist Lloyd Dobler seeks to capture the heart of Diane Court, a beautiful but unattainable valedictorian classmate. He surprises just about everyone - including himself - when she returns the sentiment. However, Diane's divorced, over-protective father soon begins to disapprove of the match, and Lloyd realises that it's going to take more than just the power of love to conquer all.

Reality Bites

Reality Bites

Drama · 1994

A small circle of friends suffering from post-collegiate blues must confront the hard truth about life, love and the pursuit of gainful employment. As they struggle to map out survival guides for the future, the Gen-X quartet soon begins to realize that reality isn't all it's cracked up to be.

Shall We Dance?

Shall We Dance?

Drama · 2004

A bored estate lawyer spots a beautiful woman in the window of a ballroom dance studio. He secretly starts taking dancing lessons to be near her, and then over time discovers how much he loves dancing. His wife, meanwhile, has hired a private detective to find out why he has started coming home late smelling of perfume.

Being Julia

Being Julia

Comedy · 2004

Julia Lambert is a true diva: beautiful, talented, weathly and famous. She has it all - including a devoted husband who has mastermined her brilliant career - but after years of shining in the spotlight she begins to suffer from a severe case of boredom and longs for something new and exciting to put the twinkle back in her eye. Julia finds exactly what she's looking for in a handsome young American fan, but it isn't long before the novelty fling adds a few more sparks than she was hoping for. Fortuately for her, this surprise twist in the plot will thrust her back into the greatest role of her life.

Pretty in Pink

Pretty in Pink

Romance · 1986

Andie is an outcast, hanging out either with her older boss, who owns the record store where she works, or her quirky high school classmate Duckie, who has a crush on her. When one of the rich and popular kids at school, Blane, asks Andie out, it seems too good to be true. As Andie starts falling for Blane, she begins to realize that dating someone from a different social sphere is not easy.

Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Comedy · 2011

Cal Weaver is living the American dream. He has a good job, a beautiful house, great children and a beautiful wife, named Emily. Cal's seemingly perfect life unravels, however, when he learns that Emily has been unfaithful and wants a divorce. Over 40 and suddenly single, Cal is adrift in the fickle world of dating. Enter, Jacob Palmer, a self-styled player who takes Cal under his wing and teaches him how to be a hit with the ladies.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Paul Thomas Anderson

Written by

Paul Thomas Anderson

Alana Haim

Alana Haim

Alana Kane

Cooper Hoffman

Cooper Hoffman

Gary Valentine

Sean Penn

Sean Penn

Jack Holden

Tom Waits

Tom Waits

Rex Blau

Bradley Cooper

Bradley Cooper

Jon Peters

Benny Safdie

Benny Safdie

Joel Wachs

Skyler Gisondo

Skyler Gisondo

Lance Brannigan

Court is in session

Put Licorice Pizza on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.