Having grown up in the San Fernando Valley, seeing 'Licorice Pizza' was a relative no brainer. After all, I was conceived in the year that this film takes place, not to mention it was shot at my middle school (Portola Jr. High). The movie meandered a bit, but it had more than enough going on to call itself entertaining. Also, I was blown away by the performance of the film's lead actress, Alana Haim, who had no major TV or film roles prior to shooting this Paul Thomas Anderson film. Here's more about the novice actress and musician from the pop-rock music group HAIM.
