by pinback » Sat Dec 25, 2021 2:44 pm
It's picture day at Something Something High School in the San Fernando Valley of the early '70s. 15-year old Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman, son of Philip Seymour), child actor and overly-confident schemer spots the photographer's quirky, alluring 25-year old assistant Alana Kane (Alana Haim) and insists himself upon her, imploring her to meet him later at his favorite restaurant, where he's a bit of a celebrity and is surely looking forward to acting like one in front of her. She says maybe, but no.
She does show up, and immediately cautions him not to be creepy. He just stares at her, for too long. She can hear him breathing. We, the audience, can hear him breathing. "Stop that." "Stop breathing?"
What follows is just one continual adventure as these two do their best to find their ways in the jungles of Los Angeles. Never too far apart, but never too close, they orbit each other -- an orbit that seems destined to degrade and pull them together, but LA is a tough town when you still have no idea who you are or what you're going to be.
Series of mini- and mis-adventures are sewn together in a tapestry that you're never quite sure where it's going or what's going to happen next, which is a good thing. Maybe Sean Penn or Bradley Cooper will enter the picture with a glorious bit of scenery-chewing and surrealism, and then drift away just as quickly. Maybe Gary's latest scheme will work. Maybe Alana will figure out what the hell she's doing. Maybe they'll finally find each other is all they need. Or maybe the age and personality difference is just too much. You like them, you're rooting for them, but you're never quite sure what it is you're rooting for.
It has neither the emotional impact or visceral grandiosity of many other Paul Thomas Anderson movies, but it is no less enthralling, exciting, unnerving, and wonderful.
Cooper Hoffman is so good you'll almost forget about his dad.
FOUR (****) STARS.
It's picture day at Something Something High School in the San Fernando Valley of the early '70s. 15-year old Gary Valentine (Cooper Hoffman, son of Philip Seymour), child actor and overly-confident schemer spots the photographer's quirky, alluring 25-year old assistant Alana Kane (Alana Haim) and [i]insists[/i] himself upon her, imploring her to meet him later at his favorite restaurant, where he's a bit of a celebrity and is surely looking forward to acting like one in front of her. She says maybe, but no.
She does show up, and immediately cautions him not to be creepy. He just stares at her, for too long. She can hear him breathing. We, the audience, can hear him breathing. "Stop that." "Stop breathing?"
What follows is just one continual adventure as these two do their best to find their ways in the jungles of Los Angeles. Never too far apart, but never too close, they orbit each other -- an orbit that seems destined to degrade and pull them together, but LA is a tough town when you still have no idea who you are or what you're going to be.
Series of mini- and mis-adventures are sewn together in a tapestry that you're never quite sure where it's going or what's going to happen next, which is a good thing. Maybe Sean Penn or Bradley Cooper will enter the picture with a glorious bit of scenery-chewing and surrealism, and then drift away just as quickly. Maybe Gary's latest scheme will work. Maybe Alana will figure out what the hell she's doing. Maybe they'll finally find each other is all they need. Or maybe the age and personality difference is just too much. You like them, you're rooting for them, but you're never quite sure what it is you're rooting for.
It has neither the emotional impact or visceral grandiosity of many other Paul Thomas Anderson movies, but it is no less enthralling, exciting, unnerving, and wonderful.
Cooper Hoffman is so good you'll almost forget about his dad.
FOUR (****) STARS.