This afternoon I saw Licorice Pizza at the Kendall Square Cinema. I rarely watch newly released movies, but I had nothing better to do on the final day of 2021 so I went.
Produced and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza is set in 1973 (more on that later). It centers around a 15-year old child actor turned entrepreneur who falls in love at first sight with a photographer's assistant 10 years his senior played by Cooper Hoffman and Alana Haim, respectively, both of whom are making their film debuts.
Hoffman does come with an acting pedigree as the son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman and he has inherited his father's mannerisms while developing a few of his own. At only 18, Hoffman possesses a self-assuredness which could earn him a career just as distinguished as that of his father. One only hopes the younger Hoffman can avoid the demons which claimed his father at the age of 46.
Alana Haim, best known for being the all-female rock band Haim with her older sisters Este and Danielle (who also appear in the movie along with their parents), is equal to the task playing a woman who knows she is too old to be involved with this boy much less hang around with him, but being around him and his schemes gives her a life she does not have at home.
Now it must be said there are those who are squeamish about the idea of a 15-year old boy being in a relationship with a 25-year old woman. Of course, it is also a legal matter. Under the current law i California, where the movie is set, it is illegal for an 18-year old to have sex with someone under the age of 18 unless they are married. The penalties are reduced in a Romeo and Juliet scenario, but there the age gap is only three years and does not apply here.
With this in mind, while there are have been many movies about romantic involvement between older men and younger women, I also cannot imagine a fictional movie being made about a 15-year old girl in an adult relationship with a 25-year old man or where a teenaged girl was the object of desire for an adult male short of a remake of Lolita without a public outcry. Although there have been prosecutions of adult female teachers who have sexual relations with their adolescent male students, society at large tends to take a different view of underaged males having sex with women as opposed to vice versa as amply demonstrated in a certain episode of South Park.
Notwithstanding the taboo, Hoffman and Haim have an undeniable onscreen chemistry between them and act like a couple in every possible way up to including trying to bring out the other's jealousy. At one point, I thought to myself that these were two little shits who deserved each other and at one point in the film Haim's character arrives at that very conclusion.
Throw in some cameos from Christine Ebersole, Sean Penn, Bradley Cooper and Tom Waits plus a great late 1960's-early 1970's soundtrack which includes some obscure songs like "Softly Whispering I Love You" by The English Congregation, "Hot Smoke & Sassafras" by Bubble Puppy and "Walk Away" by The James Gang and you've got a fantastic movie set in the 1970's.
Now to the timeline. The film is set in 1973 as the plotline revolves around 1973 OPEC Crisis. However, early on in the film, there is the unmistakable voice of Vin Scully broadcasting a Dodgers game. But based on his description it isn't just any Dodgers game. Steve Garvey is at bat and Jimmy Wynn is on base. Scully makes a point of saying Garvey had 111 RBIs. But Garvey did this in 1974 when he won the NL MVP en route to the Dodgers winning the NL pennant and facing the Oakland A's in the World Series. It must also be noted that Wynn did not join the Dodgers until 1974. The OPEC Crisis had passed and Richard Nixon was no longer President. Be that as it may, it's always great to hear the voice of Vin Scully even if it is out of context.
Licorice Pizza is a polarizing movie, but it will be nominated for a boatload of Academy Awards including nominations for Hoffman and Haim as well as for Waits I suspect although we may need to take a waits and see approach.
No comments:
Post a Comment