Licorice Pizza movie: The social media reactions are in

Today is Christmas for film fans everywhere, as many are watching some of the hotly anticipated films, only one auteur filmmaker still needs to release his latest film, Licorice Pizza, and that filmmaker is Paul Thomas Anderson.

Paul Thomas Anderson is widely loved amongst the film community, some even calling him one of the best filmmakers of all time. There is something about his style and storytelling that not only speaks to audiences but entertains them, turning two-hour epics into 90-minute ones due to his break-neck pacing.

Films like Boogie Nights, Magnolia, There Will Be Blood display the same structure but are told in different time periods while also being character studies. His new film, Licorice Pizza, stars Cooper Hoffman, Alana Haim, Bradley Cooper amongst others is his first film since 2017’s Phantom Thread and tells the story of two teens in an evolving ’70s landscape.

Since the first trailer was released, fans of his praised his style and personality; often being compared to 2019’s Once Upon a Time…In Hollywood. Last night, the film was screened to critics in Los Angeles and New York and the reactions prior to the review are finally out. And of course, they are very positive. Here are just a few of them:

Licorice Pizza movie: What are the critics saying?

Courtney Howard from the LA Film Critic praises its coming-of-age style of storytelling along with its wonderful performances by both of the leads and its wonderful soundtrack!

Rotten Tomatoes critic Erik Davis released a thread discussing his thoughts on how much he “fell hard for Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza”. He praises its romanticism as well as compares Bradley Cooper’s performance that of Tom Cruise’s acting in Anderson’s previous film, Magnolia.

Clayton Davis of Variety praises Licorice Pizza for its charm and wit as well as you guessed it, the performances by the two leads and supporting performance by Bradley Cooper. Even going as far as weighing the film’s options for a screenplay nomination at the Academy Awards this year.

It seems like the praise for Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film is going towards the debut performance by both Cooper Hoffman and Alana Haim as well as Bradley Cooper. While these are just only a few of the responses from the film, we can only expect the best. As we get closer to the film’s release, many are rewatching some of Anderson’s work in anticipation, as am I. The excitement for this film is only just growing and many cannot wait to see this for themselves.

Licorice Pizza releases only in theaters on Nov. 26, 2021.