Escaping in First Love | "Licorice Pizza"
A wandering coming of age tale confirms the bruises and adventure of falling in love and creating a life of your own. The film begins with Alana Kane, a twenty five year old photography assistant prepping kids for yearbook photos, and a surprising conversation with Gary Valentine, a self confident fifteen year old who makes the self-fulfilling prophecy that they were meant to meet. Flattered and somewhat intrigued, Alana agrees to a dinner and finds in Gary a refreshing clarity of purpose amidst her own insecurities. A showman and actor in the entertainment world, Gary, played by Cooper Hoffman, defines his success and people skills as part of who he is. When expressing her frustrations and ambivalence to her own future, Alana, played by Alana Haim, receives a hearty, “You should start a business.” For his part, Gary is already a natural salesman and pursues emerging business opportunities in a quest for the independence of adulthood. He employs his younger brothers in a waterbed star
