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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.

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Where it lives

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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.