Licorice Pizza

"A visually beautiful movie with questionable messaging- certainly a 2021 conversation piece "

"PTA’s movies are always technically masterpieces. The sets, cars, clothes and just an overall cool look. Usually, as is the case here, the acting is phenomenal. But every time I watch one, it ends up just feeling like a waste of time. "

"Most of the time, I wasn't sure what I was watching not knowing who was the real protagonist or where the real story was... but then found myself drawn into the quirky randomness of it, a kind of carefree feeling which the characters, the location, and the times seem to exude -- the growing up-ness of it all. Alana's stride was magical."

"Tries to be too quirky and loses the story in character development."

"Absolutely loved it! You get thrown right into the story but with these characters it works . It's a well written love story but of course one that stands as an interesting conversation piece. "

"A jumbled mess of nonsensical garbage, set in my least favorite decade, full of totally unlikeable characters. Truly one of the dumbest films I've seen. "

"Another unbearably long and pointless movie by one of the great directors who all collectively seem to be descending into navel gazing about the good old times.... Will place this movie squarely on the list of others like Once upon a time in Hollywood and The Irishman and hope these guys will snap out of it soon and get back to their old glory. 5 out of 10"

"Licorice Pizza feels like slicing determinedly through the air, with the breeze tangling up your hair, on the euphoria of just living, messing up, and loving freely, while trying to be something and not knowing quite what that is yet. It’s misstep after misstep until you fall into the lap of something spectacular. Alana Kane, played by Alana Haim of the vibrant, eclectic girl group Haim, is a natural and a stand-out talent. One who fiercely embraces the confused, transitional process of becoming. Her whole family in fact are stand-outs, who star in this breath-of-fresh air flick, sound tracked by the out-of-this-world David Bowie and his captivating tune, “Life on Mars?” , as Alana and her equally as wayward, “part-time lover, full-time friend,” Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman), go on adventure after adventure, trying to find the meaning and purpose behind it all. They dabble in the sometimes disenchanting world of business start-ups that reach nothing short of the best kind of originality. And even go on to attempt acting as Alana, at Gary’s suggestion, assuredly, comically pretends she can do anything that the production company could possibly want. Alana is young, alive, and has all the right timing and confidence that it can take her just about anywhere, which is single-handedly right where this movie goes and that’s the beauty of how far-encompassing its scope and imagination is. It’s colorful, genuine, and impactful, and asks the hard questions. And we are also reminded that if we haven’t the faintest who we are or where we are going that that’s perfectly okay too. "

"Unable to finish. There was something going for it, but I just couldn’t figure it out. "

"I tried to like this movie. Except for Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman. Loved their performances."