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silwiley
Reviews
Love (2016)
Amazing show
An amazing show full of interesting, lovable, unforgettable characters. Each and every one of them is intriguing and has something going for them. The two leads have amazing chemistry, I'm especially impressed with Gillian Jacobs, who's probably the most underrated actress of the 2010's. Her character, a messy and volatile functioning addict, is portayed with astonishing complexity by Jacobs.
Paul Rust, as an actor and a writer on the show, walks a tight rope as a likeable dork and a codependent wimp. From the moment the two characters meet, watching their feelings for each other develop despite their somewhat incompatible personalities is a joy to behold. The writers treat them with serious dignity and refuse to let anyone of the hook; they also enjoy to put the characters, especially Rust, in the most awkward situations. I don't think I ever squirmed so often watching a show. It knows relationships are hard for broken people, and that love is not to be taken for granted.
Granted, it's somewhat hipster-ish. The places are always fancy and clean, and many of the supporting characters are a tad too quirky and colourful. LA equals Silver Lakes here, which, honestly, is totally fine for me. The show lives through the complex interplay of the characters and is hardly ever plot-driven. There's one great scene in which Paul Rust, very much in love, marvels at Jacobs, and tells her she's as beautiful as the great Hollywood actresses who starred in black-and-white-films. She takes his comments with low-key bewilderment, glancing back at him with a subtle, broken smile. He is right.
Licorice Pizza (2021)
PTA fan? skip this one.
It's just another handsomely made movie about nothing, high on it's own nostalgia.
It's quite tonedeaf, but PTA has lost his grasp on tone long ago, so no surprises. Some scenes are downright jarring (that mumbling old lady for instance, or the racist restaurant guy), others are very well made. I especially enjoyed the vignette with Jon Peters. That one worked pretty well. There's another one involving a homosexual couple, which is great too. Doesn't compensate for a lot of nothingness in between, though, including a sean penn and tom waits cameo role that indulges in self-importance and vaporizes into nothingness as soon as it's over.
The acting is good, way better than the film deserves, actually. It was nice to see the haim sisters together in a movie. And cooper hofman really has his father's spirit, down to the body language, which is heartwarming. Looking forward for both of them in, hopefully, less self-indulgent movies.
I love well-made romantic comedies, but this one rings phony from minute one. The boy's obsession with the girl is never satisfyingly explained. They have a fight, the audience doesn't quite know why. I'm not sure if PTA knows. Somehow, somewhere, presumably off screen, they fall in love. Countless movies before have done it much better.
All of this eventually amounts to nothing, because nothing really is ever at stake here. It's all dazed, comfortable, decidedly un-thrilling filmmkaking. Remember QTs once upon a time in hollywood? That was a self-indulgent period piece too, also quite comfortable, but it had stakes, and thrills. Licorice pizza is just lazy.
Remember when PTA movies were chilling to the bone? Remember magnolia? Boogie nights? Yeah, me too.