Take this Licorice Pizza Quiz to find out which character you are. We update the quiz regularly and it’s the most accurate among the other quizzes.
“Licorice Pizza,” Paul Thomas Anderson’s golden, shimmering vision of 1970s San Fernando Valley, is so dreamy, so full of possibility, that it almost doesn’t seem real. With its long, magical-hour walk-and-talks and a sense of adventure around every corner and down every block, it’s a place where anything can happen as the day turns to night.
But there’s an unmistakable undercurrent of danger lurking beneath that joyful, playful reverie. It’s in the score by Anderson’s frequent collaborator, Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood, and it keeps you on edge. It’s beckoning to the sky from the searchlights outside the grand opening of a Ventura Boulevard pinball parlor. And it comes through in big, brash moments with showy supporting performances from Bradley Cooper and Sean Penn, both of whom go for broke. Anything can happen as the day turns to night—but are you prepared for it?
Licorice Pizza Quiz
Anderson has lived in this neighborhood since he was a child, and he still does. His affection is clear and palpable for the Valley, with its suburban sprawl and unremarkable strip malls. I grew up in Woodland Hills, just down the 101 Freeway from where the events of “Licorice Pizza” take place, and I remember fondly the Southern California record store chain that gives the film its title. (I used to go to the one on Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Canoga Park, across the street from Topanga Plaza, when I was a kid.) He’s already taken us on a tour of this area in two of the great early films that launched his career (“Boogie Nights” and “Magnolia”), but with “Licorice Pizza,” he takes a gentler approach. Anderson has used all of the thrilling, muscular techniques that have become his directing trademarks, as well as his love of high drama as a writer, to tell a story that is surprisingly sweet. Also, you must try to play this Licorice Pizza Quiz.
It’s also wildly unpredictable from one scene to the next, as Anderson masterfully transitions from absurd comedy to tender romance, with a couple of legitimate action sequences thrown in for good measure. “Licorice Pizza” meanders in the best way possible: you never know where it’s going, but you can’t wait to find out, and when it’s over, you won’t want it to end. I had no desire to get up and leave the theater once the credits rolled because I was so engrossed in the film’s cozy, wistful spell.
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Anderson has provided us with the most glorious guides in Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman, both of whom are making their feature film debuts. “Licorice Pizza” will make them both superstars, and rightfully so. Hoffman is the son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, whose long and fruitful collaboration with Anderson resulted in some of his most memorable work, ranging from the heartbreaking (“Boogie Nights”) to the terrifying (“The Master”). Hoffman has a very different appearance and demeanor than his father—he exudes an infectious, boyish optimism—but he shares his father’s captivating screen presence. And Haim is simply a movie star. She has “that thing”: a radiant, magnetic aura that makes it impossible to take your gaze away from her. She’s the youngest of three sisters who make up the indie rock band HAIM—they’ve had a long and fruitful relationship with Anderson, who’s directed several of their music videos—and she’s got impeccable comic timing and consistently makes inspired choices. She and Hoffman have snappy chemistry reminiscent of classic screwball comedies, but they both seem completely at home in this 1970s setting. The presence of Haim’s sisters, Danielle and Este, who play Alana’s sisters, adds to the authenticity. And their real parents play their real parents, which all culminates in a hilarious Friday-night Shabbat dinner scene.
We haven’t even started talking about the plot yet, but the plot isn’t really the point. In a nutshell, “Licorice Pizza” follows Haim’s Alana and Hoffman’s Gary as they run around the Valley, starting various businesses, flirting, pretending they don’t care about each other, and potentially falling for other people in order to avoid falling for each other. One thing: she’s 25 and he’s 15, and they met cute at his high school while she was assisting the photographers on picture day. What makes this amorphous romance work is that a) it’s extremely chaste, b) she’s somewhat stunted at the start of the film, and c) Anderson wisely establishes Gary’s swagger and intelligence beyond his years early on.
For more personality and trivia quizzes check this: The King’s Man Quiz
