What I’m watching: a sweet, aimless story of young love in the 1970s

Date: 1/11/2022

In theaters: “Licorice Pizza”

Other than the preview, I had no idea what to expect from this new film from director Paul Thomas Anderson. I readily admit that I’ve enjoyed many of his previous films, particularly “Boogie Nights” and “Magnolia.”

So, I wasn’t quite prepared for an essentially plotless film about the relationship of a 15-year-old boy and a 25-year-old woman in and around 1973 in southern California.

I know that sounds very, very specific, and part of the success of the film is that it is grounded in a very specific time and place.

Recently I had the opportunity of seeing “Saint Jack,” a 1979 feature directed by Peter Bognaovich. The film stars Ben Gazzara as an American expatriate living in Singapore and making most of his living through pimping. The film doesn’t have much of a plot, but rather is a character study.

As that film unreeled, I grew to like it more and more. Several days after seeing “Licorice Pizza,” I am liking it also more than I did when I walked out of the theater.

I realized with“Licorice Pizza,” the film is structured in a similar way to “Saint Jack.” In the new film, the story as such is very much secondary to the personalities of the two lead characters.

The film is told in a way that almost seems like a series of recollections told by the two lead characters: a conversation between them, as clearly not all of the film’s events are shared by both characters.

Gary Valentine (played by Cooper Hoffman) may be only 15. but he is supremely self-confident as he attempts to make a date with Alana, who is working for a company that takes high school portraits. Gary is an actor and entrepreneur as well as someone who is helping his mom’s public relations business. He’s not arrogant, but instead is willing to work very hard to complete the task he has set.

Alana is more of a mystery. She appears to be searching for something in life, but it’s clear she’s not sure of her goal. She lives with her parents and two sisters, who are puzzled why she is spending so much time with Gary.

Alana, for that matter, can’t explain it either.

The film progresses. Gary continues his pursuit of Alana, even though there are detours and bumps along the way. His character is routinely positive and caring, although there are a few moments he realizes he may be out of his league.

She sticks with him as he opens a waterbed store and then a pinball center. Only when she decides to work on a local political campaign do we really see some serious cracks in their relationship.

These are two essentially sweet, good young people, but what is so challenging about the film is the idea that an adult woman would see anything serious about this teenager. For it to work, Gary has to be seen as talented and sincere, and Anderson makes sure he does. Gary is genuinely likable.

The structure of the story is a series of memories strung together, and some parts work better than others. Delivering a waterbed to real Hollywood producer Jon Peters (played with psychotic intensity by Bradley Cooper) is funny, but the sequence involving Sean Penn as a film executive who jumps a bonfire on a motorcycle doesn’t really add anything to the picture.

Anderson’s production staff have an insane eye for detail, making this film look like it could have been produced in the 1970s. Both Gary and Alana have perfectly ’70s clothes and hair styles.

In fact, the more I think about the film, the more I admire its successful effort not to tell a story, but to put it solidly in a particular place and time.

I know that I will be watching this film again. I hope you give it a chance as well.

On Blu-ray: “Master of the World”

As a lifelong fan of Vincent Price, I quickly grabbed a copy of the newly released Blu-ray while during my last trip to The Archive in Bridgeport, CT.

I recall having seen the film in the VHS days and was eager to add it to my Price collection.
Directed by action specialist William Witney, this 1961 film is based on two books by Jules Verne about an inventor named Robur (Price) who wishes to destroy the weapons of mass destruction that make war possible. Although he tries not to take a life, he is willing to do so if it can bring peace.
Four people are held on his flying fortress as Robur attempts to blackmail the major countries of this world to give up their navies and armies.

According to the commentary track, this was the prestige production for American International Pictures that year, with a budget greater than their usual fare and with a cast that included Charles Bronson and Henry Hull.

The problem is the budget wasn’t big enough for the scope of the film, and while Witney knew how to make the most of a budget thanks to his years at Republic Pictures, where he shot serials and westerns, he could not thoroughly put on screen what should have been onscreen. There was too much stock footage used out of necessity.

Price portrays Robur as a tragic genius, a man obsessed with peace but who doesn’t understand the deadly irony of his methods.

While the film is not as good as it could have been, I did have fun with it as a Vincent Price completist.