American comedy-drama Licorice Pizza was written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. Along with an impressive ensemble supporting cast that includes Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Bradley Cooper, and Benny, it features Alana and Cooper Hoffman in their feature film debuts. The movie, which is set in 1973, follows a young couple as their romance grows.
On November 26, 2021, Licorice Pizza premiered in around the country before receiving a wider release on December 25. Despite a $40 million production budget, the movie only made $33 million worldwide. Despite this, it was well-received by critics and garnered three nominations for the 94th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had not had a fully produced, promoted, and released movie receive a Best Picture nomination since Rain Man in 1988. Additionally, it was recognized as one of the greatest movies of 2021 by the American Film Institute, won three National Board of Review awards, including Best Film, and garnered four nominations for the 79th Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy.
At his school's picture day in 1973 San Fernando Valley, 15-year-old actor Gary Valentine meets Alana Kane, a 25-year-old photography assistant. Despite her rejection of his advances, they develop a bond. Gary invites Alana to accompany him on a press tour performance in New York City when his mother Anita is unable to. She starts dating his co-star Lance, which makes Gary envious, but they break up after he confesses to being an atheist in front of her Jewish family at Shabbat dinner.
After discovering a waterbed at a wig store, Gary starts selling them and meets Alana again at a trade show for teenagers. He is unexpectedly detained after being identified as a murder suspect. Alana chases him to the police station, but he is shortly released. She joins his waterbed company and uses seductive phone etiquette to attract clients. Gary is irritated because he won't show him her breasts after introducing her to his talent agency. When he requests to touch them, he smacks him instead. When they open a "Fat Bernie's" storefront for their waterbeds, Gary makes out with Sue in the back room after flirting with her, which upsets Alana. Before kissing a man on the street and leaving, an envious Alana spy in on them.
Alana is invited to The Cock restaurant, where Gary and his friends are also eating, by Gary's agent, who also arranges for her to attend an audition for a movie starring seasoned actor Jack Holden. Gary becomes envious of a drunken Alana, and Holden's friend, movie director Rex, persuades him to perform one of his motorbike stunts again, this time dragging the entire restaurant along. Gary rushes to Alana's side as she falls from the while Holden dives over a blazing sand trap. They proceed to the waterbed retailer after making amends once more, where Gary restrains himself from caressing a dozing Alana's breast.
The country is hit by the 1973 oil crisis, causing waterbed manufacturing to shut down. At Jon Peters' house, Alana, Gary, and his buddies deliver one last package. Peters humiliates Gary before leaving to meet his girlfriend, Barbra Streisand, and threatens to strangle his brother if Gary ruins the house.
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