Published by
The Detroit News
The Detroit News
Paul Thomas Anderson is punch drunk on young love in “Licorice Pizza,” his positively giddy ’70s-set tale of romance and coming-of-age. The two lovebirds at its center are scrappy 15-year-old child actor Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman, son of late Anderson-regular Philip Seymour Hoffman) and his crush Alana Kane (Alana Haim, guitarist in the sisterly rock trio Haim), who is 10 years his elder. Calling it a romance right off the bat is a bit of a misnomer. “Licorice Pizza” is about Gary’s dogged pursuit of Alana, and the ways he continually tries to impress her and convince her to love him back…