---
title: "Licorice Pizza"
year: 2021
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/licorice-pizza"
fi1m_score: 80
critics_score: 82
critics_reviews: 29
published: "2026-09-20T08:19:23.422324+00:00"
updated: "2026-09-20T08:19:23.863642+00:00"
region: "US"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Licorice Pizza (2021)

Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson · 2h 13m · MPA R · Drama, Comedy, Romance

**Fi1m score: 80** · Critics 82 from 29 reviews

*In a sentence:* A fifteen-year-old with a business plan, a twenty-five-year-old without one, and a waterbed shop between them

> Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1970s Valley comedy runs on two leads who had never acted and look as if they have never done anything else. It rambles, sometimes to a fault, and one running joke should have gone. We recommend it warmly anyway.

## Synopsis

Encino, in the San Fernando Valley, 1973. Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman), fifteen, is a child actor with a few credits, a sharp suit and a manager in his mother, Momma Anita (Mary Elizabeth Ellis). On school picture day he spots Alana Kane (Alana Haim), twenty-five, handing out combs as the photographer’s assistant, and asks her to dinner. She tells him he is a child. She turns up anyway. When Gary needs an adult to accompany him to New York for a television appearance, Alana goes, and afterwards drifts into his orbit: his auditions, his agent Mary Grady (Harriet Sansom Harris), and his latest idea, a waterbed business run out of a shopfront with a phone and a sign. She has no idea what she wants. He is sure he wants her.

## Review

Paul Thomas Anderson has made a film about hanging about. Encino, in the San Fernando Valley, 1973. Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman) is fifteen, a child actor on his way out and a salesman by temperament. Alana Kane (Alana Haim) is twenty-five, assisting a school photographer, living at home, and has no plan at all. He asks her to dinner on picture day. She says no, then turns up. The rest of *Licorice Pizza* is the two of them drifting through a year of schemes and detours, and we liked it a great deal, with reservations.

Neither Hoffman nor Haim had acted before, and the film belongs to them. Hoffman gives Gary a round, open face and a patter learned from grown-ups, and Anderson lets us see how tiresome that could get without ever letting it. Haim has the harder part. Alana scowls, strides, snaps at children and is rude to nearly everyone, and she is the film’s centre because she is the only person in it who does not know what she wants. Early on, Gary rings her after their date and neither of them speaks. They sit in separate rooms with the receivers to their ears and breathe. It moved us more than two people breathing down a telephone has any business doing. They are not in love so much as unwilling to hang up.

Anderson shares the camera credit with Michael Bauman, and they shoot the Valley in a warm brown haze, late light coming sideways through smog, with people running in it. Everybody in this film runs, towards things that will have moved by the time they arrive. Florencia Martin’s production design gives them a restaurant with red leather booths, a pinball palace and a waterbed showroom in a strip mall with one phone and a hand-painted sign. Andy Jurgensen lets scenes run past their punchline and then cuts hard into the next, so the scenes accumulate rather than build. Jonny Greenwood’s score is used sparingly; the records of the period carry it, and David Bowie’s “Life on Mars?” over the two of them walking is the best stretch of picture and sound Anderson has put together in years.

The set pieces are what most critics have written about, and they are right to. Bradley Cooper plays Jon Peters, a hairdresser turned producer who introduces himself by the name of his famous girlfriend and threatens a van full of teenagers while buying a waterbed. We laughed harder than at anything else in the film, and then, when Alana takes a lorry with no petrol in it down a long hill in reverse, we stopped laughing and held our breath. Sean Penn and Tom Waits turn up as Jack Holden and Rex Blau, an old actor and an old director, drunk and unsafe around a motorbike. Harriet Sansom Harris has one scene as the agent Mary Grady, in a small office with a nervous Alana, and walks off with it. Benny Safdie is quieter and sadder as Joel Wachs, a councilman Alana goes to work for.

Now the reservations. John Michael Higgins plays Jerry Frick, who owns a Japanese restaurant and speaks to his Japanese wife in a mock accent. It happens twice. Anderson presumably means the joke to be on Frick, but the camera does not stay long enough on the wife’s face to make that clear, and the cinema we saw it in went quiet both times. It is the one thing we would cut. The other problem is shape. Wachs and his troubles arrive late and pull Alana into a story the film has not left room for, and at 133 minutes it could lose a quarter of an hour without anyone noticing.

Then there is the age gap, which one critic found creepy and most did not mention. We were uneasy, and we think the film wants us to be. Alana says the numbers aloud more than once. Anderson keeps the two of them at the point of not-quite, and the film is at its most honest when she looks around at Gary’s friends and asks herself what a woman her age is doing there. It is a fair question and the film does not entirely answer it.

This is Anderson back in the Valley of [*Boogie Nights*](https://film.one/film/boogie-nights) without that film’s engine, and closer in temperature to [*Punch-Drunk Love*](https://film.one/film/punch-drunk-love): sunny, sore, a little embarrassed by its own feelings. It is a 15 certificate. Watch it with the window open on a warm night. It is a film about a place where nothing much happens, and it minds that it doesn’t.

*Fi1m score 80, published 20 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics love this one, and they agree on why. Twenty-eight of twenty-nine reviews are positive, and nearly all describe it as Anderson’s lightest and sunniest film, a loose 1970s coming-of-age comedy set in the San Fernando Valley. The praise clusters on the two first-time leads: Alana Haim is called a natural star in review after review, and Cooper Hoffman is rated almost as highly. The period detail, the soundtrack and the supporting cameos, Bradley Cooper’s in particular, are singled out repeatedly.

The reservations are about shape and about the romance itself. Several critics find the episodic structure baggy and think the digressions crowd out the central pair; The Hollywood Reporter and Vulture both argue the love story is the weakest element on screen. The spread is narrow. The lone dissenter is The Times, which finds the relationship between a 15-year-old boy and a 25-year-old woman creepy rather than charming, a charge the Evening Standard directly rejects.

### Reviews we read (29)

- **Little White Lies**, David Jenkins (5/5/5): The review calls it Anderson's most purely pleasurable film to date, a silky-smooth love story about two people never quite in love at the same time that excels at world-building and character interplay. The newcomers Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman are singled out for shining in their roles. [Read](https://lwlies.com/reviews/licorice-pizza)
- **Time Out**, Phil de Semlyen (5/5): The critic hails it as PTA's sunniest and most buoyant film yet, a free-spirited coming-of-age yarn with boundless energy and dizzying possibility. The greatest coup is singled out as the casting of the two novice leads who are born to their roles. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/licorice-pizza-2021)
- **IndieWire**, David Ehrlich (A): Calls it a euphorically hilarious coming-of-age comedy and perfect slice of '70s nostalgia with standout performances from Cooper Hoffman, Alana Haim, and Bradley Cooper. Highlights the anarchic set pieces and PTA's ultra-dry comedic wit as making it one of the year's best. [Read](https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/licorice-pizza-review-paul-thomas-anderson-1234679385/)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Justin Chang (90/100, inferred): The film is a valentine to the Valley and to Alana Haim in a boisterous, bighearted shaggy-dog epic full of Hollywood tall tales and entrepreneurial schemes. Chang singles out Haim’s star turn and the film’s affectionate yet clear-eyed portrait of 1970s Los Angeles. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-11-15/licorice-pizza-review-paul-thomas-anderson-alana-haim)
- **Screen Daily** (90/100, inferred): The critic calls it Anderson's gentlest, most endearing picture to date, a fully immersive and laidback study of youthful infatuation that gains momentum through its ambling structure. Alana Haim's marvellous debut performance as the disaffected twentysomething is singled out for praise. [Read](https://www.screendaily.com/reviews/licorice-pizza-review/5165144.article)
- **The Guardian**, Peter Bradshaw (90/100, inferred): Anderson’s latest is a romance about a teen boy wooing an older woman, starring two extraordinary newcomers and stuffed with fabulously hammy A-list cameos. It is hypnotically gorgeous, funny and romantic, freewheeling from scene to scene with absolute mastery. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/nov/15/licorice-pizza-review-paul-thomas-anderson)
- **Slant Magazine**, Carson Lund (3.5/4): Praises the rollicking picaresque structure, Haim family performances, and subtle hints of danger and inequity that give depth to the nostalgic ode to the Valley. Highlights the slow-burn romance and lively set pieces while noting the film's recognition of a thornier reality beneath the charm. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/licorice-pizza-review-paul-thomas-anderson/)
- **Empire**, John Nugent (85/100, inferred): Paul Thomas Anderson’s shaggy, shambolic but utterly lovable film is called a thrilling culmination of his talents, blending freewheeling comedy with formal ambition and featuring remarkable debuts from its leads in a precise yet carefree evocation of youthful feelings. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/licorice-pizza/)
- **Variety**, Peter Debruge (Critics Pick): Anderson’s most endearing movie yet is propelled by terrific first-time performances from Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman in a colorful slice-of-life look at early-’70s Southern California. Debruge praises the throwback vibe, the central platonic romance, and the vivid ensemble cameos. [Read](https://variety.com/2021/film/reviews/licorice-pizza-review-paul-thomas-anderson-alana-haim-1235110340/)
- **The AV Club**, A.A. Dowd (B+): Describes it as a woozy, shaggy time-warp comedy with an episodic quality and warm nostalgia, anchored by outstanding debuts from Haim and Hoffman. Notes it sometimes loses sight of the central relationship amid digressions and a few bum notes but remains admirable. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/paul-thomas-anderson-returns-to-the-valley-with-the-fun-1848080806)
- **Evening Standard**, Charlotte O'Sullivan (80/100, inferred): The critic praises the fresh, non-creepy dynamic between the leads in this 1970s coming-of-age story and highlights how it subverts expectations around adult male entitlement while celebrating the young protagonists' energy and charm. [Read](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/licorice-pizza-film-review-paul-thomas-anderson-alana-haim-cooper-hoffman-b974905.html)
- **Radio Times**, Calum Baker (4/5): The review praises Anderson's freewheeling approach and the sparkling performances of the young leads that sell the blend of melancholy and nostalgic sweetness. The riotous Bradley Cooper cameo is singled out as one of the best set pieces. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-qo3cuh/licorice-pizza/)
- **The i Paper** (75/100, inferred): The film is described as a largely delightful, subversive and charming rites-of-passage story set in early-70s LA that turns typical high-school romance conventions on their head through winning performances and evocative period detail. [Read](https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/licorice-pizza-review-film-movie-paul-thomas-anderson-haim-romance-1375617)
- **Sight and Sound** (70/100, inferred): The critic describes the film as PTA's most upbeat to date, a meandering yet intricate portrait of 1970s San Fernando Valley life centered on the shifting dynamic between a rudderless young woman and an enterprising teen. Praise is singled out for the charismatic newcomer leads and the vivid supporting cameos that enhance the central relationship. [Read](https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/reviews/licorice-pizza-meandering-trip-beneath-california-sun)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, David Rooney (70/100, inferred): Praises Alana Haim's star-making debut as the too-cool 25-year-old and the film's affectionate, Altmanesque recreation of 1970s San Fernando Valley life with eccentric delights and a strong soundtrack. Notes that the loose, shaggy structure can feel baggy and that the central romance lacks robust tension. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/licorice-pizza-paul-thomas-anderson-1235047705/)
- **The New Yorker**, Richard Brody (70/100, inferred): Anderson fuses a comedic romance and self-discovery story with a sharp debunking of Hollywood myths. Brody highlights the thrilling narrative audacity, the central relationship, and the performances of Haim and Hoffman. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-front-row/licorice-pizza-reviewed-paul-thomas-andersons-thrilling-coming-of-age-story)
- **The New York Times**, Manohla Dargis (70/100, inferred): The film is a shaggy, fitfully brilliant 1970s romp about a self-important teenage boy and a memorable woman in the San Fernando Valley. Dargis praises the performances and the vivid sense of place while noting its episodic, coming-of-age structure. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/25/movies/licorice-pizza-review.html)
- **The Telegraph** (70/100, inferred): Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest is a gently surreal romance that's not only set in the 1970s but feels as if it was actually made then. It is messy and improbable in exactly the same way that truth is often messy and improbable, making virtues of its fuzzy edges. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/licorice-pizza-review-screwball-meandering-feels-seductively/)
- **Vulture** (70/100, inferred): Finds the film as exasperating as it is delightful, with the unlikely romance the least interesting aspect; praises the Valley idyll, Haim's testily compelling performance, and unpredictable digressions like the Jon Peters sequence while noting the lack of a satisfying central story. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/paul-thomas-andersons-licorice-pizza-movie-review.html)
- **The Times**, Kevin Maher (★★☆☆☆): Paul Thomas Anderson’s flabby tale irritates with its creepy central romance between a 15-year-old boy and 25-year-old woman, which feels odd and profoundly creepy. Much of the movie passes by as a pleasant divertissement until it doesn’t. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/film/article/licorice-pizza-review-a-creepy-romance-thats-delivered-cold-932hdwh8r)
- **Consequence** (A+): Anderson's most heartwarming film yet is praised as a dizzying, easygoing ode to young love with naturalistic rhythms and romantic charm. The leads' sparring chemistry and the sunny, whirlwind mode echoing earlier PTA works are highlighted. [Read](https://consequence.net/2021/11/licorice-pizza-review-paul-thomas-anderson/)
- **/Film**, Chris Evangelista (10/10): The critic calls the film absolutely wonderful and a highlight of Anderson's work. They single out Alana Haim's debut performance as a revelation, describing her as cool, confident, funny, and a natural star. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/662382/licorice-pizza-review-alana-haim-is-a-revelation-in-paul-thomas-andersons-wonderful-trip-back-to-the-1970s/)
- **Collider**, Matt Goldberg (A): The critic calls it Anderson's funniest and most heartfelt film yet, a charming hang-out movie and universal story of first love. Breakthrough performances by the leads and vivid period details in 1970s LA are singled out for praise. [Read](https://collider.com/licorice-pizza-review-paul-thomas-anderson/)
- **Paste**, Aurora Amidon (9.5): The film is hailed as a romantic, summery blast and the greatest of the year for its playful, defiant structure that captures youthful awkwardness and love. Anderson's direction, the leads' performances, and nostalgic evocation of 1970s LA are praised. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/movies/paul-thomas-anderson/licorice-pizza-review)
- **Deadline**, Pete Hammond (85/100, inferred): Anderson delivers his lightest and most accessible film yet, a raucously funny coming-of-age romp through the San Fernando Valley. The critic singles out the engaging lead performances from newcomers Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman along with memorable supporting turns, especially Harriet Sansom Harris. [Read](https://deadline.com/video/licorice-pizza-review-paul-thomas-anderson-alana-haim-cooper-hoffman/)
- **The Ringer**, Adam Nayman (85/100, inferred): The review finds the film a transcendent, free-flowing victory lap that loosens Anderson's control into warm, nostalgic territory between Inherent Vice and Boogie Nights. The organizing principle of constant movement and the personal, open-hearted quality are singled out. [Read](https://www.theringer.com/2021/11/26/movies/licorice-pizza-review-paul-thomas-anderson)
- **Den of Geek**, Don Kaye (4 out of 5): The critic calls it a warm-hearted, humane ode to 1970s California with an undercurrent of darkness, driven by astonishing debut performances from Cooper Hoffman and Alana Haim. Singles out the lead actors' chemistry and authenticity for praise amid the film's messy, era-specific tensions. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/movies/licorice-pizza-paul-thomas-anderson-queasy-ingredients/)
- **NME**, Leonie Cooper (4/5): The critic describes a sunny, screwball-comedy-style indie that makes stars of its young leads through their natural chemistry and authenticity. Singles out the fresh performances of Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman for making the age-gap romance and madcap schemes engaging. [Read](https://www.nme.com/reviews/film-reviews/licorice-pizza-review-alana-haim-3105747)
- **The Wrap** (80/100, inferred): Anderson crafts a joyful, one-of-a-kind delight that evocatively captures the early-1970s San Fernando Valley through an improbable romance and episodic adventures. The critic highlights the strong chemistry and performances of first-time leads Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman as central to the film's appeal. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/licorice-pizza-review-paul-thomas-anderson-alana-haim-cooper-hoffman/)

## Details

- **Director:** Paul Thomas Anderson
- **Director:** Paul Thomas Anderson
- **Writer:** Paul Thomas Anderson
- **Cinematography:** Paul Thomas Anderson, Michael Bauman
- **Editor:** Andy Jurgensen
- **Music:** Jonny Greenwood
- **Production design:** Florencia Martin
- **Producer:** Adam Somner, Sara Murphy, Paul Thomas Anderson
- **Cast:** Alana Haim as Alana Kane; Cooper Hoffman as Gary Valentine; Sean Penn as Jack Holden; Tom Waits as Rex Blau; Bradley Cooper as Jon Peters; Benny Safdie as Joel Wachs; Skyler Gisondo as Lance Brannigan; Mary Elizabeth Ellis as Momma Anita
- **Runtime:** 2h 13m
- **Certificate (MPA):** R
- **Release (the US):** 25 December 2021
- **Genres:** Drama, Comedy, Romance
- **Also in:** [Best Picture winners](https://film.one/collections/oscar-best-picture.md) (Nominee, 2021); [BAFTA Best Film winners](https://film.one/collections/bafta-best-film.md) (Nominee, 2021); [Golden Globe Best Musical or Comedy winners](https://film.one/collections/golden-globe-comedy.md) (Nominee, 2021)
- **Budget:** $40 million
- **Box office:** $33 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofnXPwUPENo

## Where to watch in the US

- Amazon Prime Video: streaming, uhd
- Apple TV: rent $3.99, hd
- Amazon Prime Video: rent $5.99, uhd
- Amazon Prime Video: buy $19.99, uhd
- Apple TV: buy $19.99, hd

*Checked 2026-09-20.*

Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, GR, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IT, JP, KR, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, TH, TR, UA, US, VN. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## Awards

- David di Donatello for Best International Film 2023: David di Donatello for Best International Film (nominated)
- Academy Awards 2022: Best Picture (nominated)
- National Board of Review Award for Best Film 2021: National Board of Review Award for Best Film (won)

## If you liked this

- *Boogie Nights* (1997), Fi1m 86: Anderson’s earlier Valley, same haze, with a plot that actually goes somewhere. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/boogie-nights.md)
- *Dazed and Confused* (1993), Fi1m 86: One long Texas afternoon in 1976 where nobody decides anything and everybody keeps moving. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/dazed-and-confused.md)
- *Rushmore* (1998), Fi1m 83: Another schoolboy with schemes and a crush who cannot hear the word no. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/rushmore.md)
- *Gregory's Girl* (1980): Cumbernauld, a hopeless teenage boy, and the girl who knows more than he does.
- *Y Tu Mamá También* (2001), Fi1m 87: Two Mexican teenagers, an older woman and a road; the country changes around them. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/y-tu-mama-tambien.md)

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© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/licorice-pizza