Licorice Pizza (Paul Thomas Anderson, November 26, 2021) Movie • Page 21

oh, that whole thing again

 

Well then I highly suggest you do not watch Red Rocket

 

I think the relationship here is far, far more confusing and complex than Red Rocket, to be fair. I am still not really sure about this one

 

In Red Rocket, it's very clear that Mikey is a manipulating piece of shit engaging in predatory behavior. With Licorice Pizza, both characters are fairly likable and the relationship is a bit more complicated. I still feel weird about it though and thought the movie would've worked just as well with him being at least 18. Movie also would've been fine without the guy doing a cartoony Asian accent.

 

Part of the point of how Gary behaves and is living is that he’s only 15. It’s a necessary context for his absurd business ventures and acting career, and how childlike he acts/how intense his crush on Alana is. It’s also why Alana denies his advances and feels weird about his flirting. If he were closer to her age, her dismissiveness of him would be different.

The guy doing the Asian caricature voice is also clearly viewed by the actual Asian women he brings into his life as a moron, though I’m sure plenty of audiences laughed for the wrong reasons and jokes like that can be tough to pull off.

 

Olivia Williams’ character in Rushmore is very different than Alana, but there’s a lot of similarity between Gary and Max and their pining over older women who know better.

 

I think that people are too eager to simplify the relationship between Alana and Gary in this, probably because of the vitriol that idiots online have spewed about it. No, PTA isn't trying to endorse grooming or statutory rape or whatever those dopes are saying. At the same time, though, it's okay to feel uncomfortable or weird or confused about the ending of this movie. After all, it's the primary focus on the film. People so wish to paint characters with broad strokes of "problematic" or whatever...Alana is a messy character. The ending of the movie is messy. That's the point!

 

And yeah, changing the character of Gary to be 18 or out of HS or whatever doesn't work for me. Like Tetra said earlier in here, these are two characters of the cusp of age groups. Gary looks absolutely ridiculous with the other children in pajamas, but he is also not an adult (even if he talks and acts like one). His schemes throughout the film wouldn't work if they made him 18/older.

 

Let's just hope they don't find out about Harold and Maude. Or Lost in Translation.

 

Like I said, the relationship is more complicated than some give it credit for. I still feel weird about it.

Idk if they said he was 3 years older, I wouldn't have batted an eye. Like, how is a 15 year old opening a mattress store and an arcade? I thought it was hilarious but not really grounded.

I can't say what PTA intended with the Asian accent thing, but a lot of my audience laughed for the wrong reasons. Just felt wholly unnecessary.

 

Has anyone seen info on a physical release date?

 

His "schemes" are full on businesses? Like he is literally renting out commercial property and shit lol. How would that not work if he were 18? It makes so little sense for a 15yo to be able to pull off the kinds of logistics he's doing

 

I mean I call them schemes because of how quickly he jumps from one to the other, but I do applaud for PTA having the waterbed business fail because of the gas crisis, not because Gary and his friends are inept.

It's like the previously mentioned Rushmore. Max putting on a production of his Vietnam play at a local theater house when he's 21 isn't as funny as him doing it in high school. I don't think that any of the business stuff, or Gary flirting with Alana in general, would come across as charming or funny if he were older. It's the only age that really makes sense for what PTA was going for. I do need to rewatch to justify any of that, though.

 

That’s the humor in it, he’s a precocious 15 year old pulling off these legit businesses. If he’s an adult doing it, it’s just…life?

it’s also based on Gary Goetzman who did sell waterbeds as a teen

 

I don't at all agree that 18 or so is such a mature age that these kinds of schemes would seem less absurd, or would lessen the impact of the intended message. It would still work perfectly fine in conveying that he is wise beyond his years but still a juvenile mess bouncing from one plan to another without a concrete sense of self or whatever. Same with the relationship to Alana - it's perfectly reasonable for a 25yo to think an 18yo is still functionally a kid, no matter how clever they are. And again it would also avoid the distracting fact that Gary doesn't look 15 at all lol.

I never once thought "oh this is a 15yo trying beyond hope to flirt with a 25yo, how charming/humorous." I thought "this actor is so clearly not 15 and the constant insistence that he is 15 is legitimately distracting" lol

 

the fact that he doesn't look 15 made it even funnier to me lol.

 

Teenagers destroyed the music industry and revolutionized social media. Opening an arcade isn't that much of a stretch.

 

His mom is a willing participant in all these schemes. I'm assuming she's the way he's able to get funding for it all.

It also doesn't matter?

 

March 15 According to r/PaulThomasAnderson and this tweet;

But who knows if that's accurate. I check like every couple days lol

 

isn't cooper, like, 18? it's not like a smallville situation where the actor is playing a decade older than they are

 

When I was 15, I 100% looked like I was over 18. I had already been shaving for 2 years. Not every 15 year old looks as young as they are.

 

this is... not a good look

 

I have no issue with that response, and I absolutely hate this take in the replies

 

There is literally nothing ambiguous about that characters stupidity. The joke is so clearly about how stupid he is.

I also don’t see an issue with PTA’s response.