Review of Licorice Pizza (2021) by Everett — 15 Feb 2022

Who are these people, and why should I care about them? This isn't "young love," either; it's an inappropriate relationship, and if the genders were reversed, it would be seen as a much more problematic issue. Why isn't it here? Is Paul Thomas Anderson pulling a fast one on us? Is he the one laughing, at everyone who's looking the other way and falling all over this film because of his reputation? That kind of dynamic is worth examining.

I barely managed to get through it. Despite all the running these two protagonists did, it was very slow! And the female lead was so difficult to root for, so unlikable. I just don't understand the adulation for this film; if an unknown director/writer had come up with it, I wonder if it ever would've been made. The joke's on us, I'm afraid.