10 ComingOfAge Comedies Like Licorice Pizza

10 Coming-Of-Age Comedies Like Licorice Pizza

Paul Thomas Anderson’s ‘Licorice Pizza’ is a fantastic coming-of-age comedy, but it takes a good deal of inspiration from its predecessors.

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Nearly every Paul Thomas Anderson movie has met with critical acclaim, but the director’s newest release, Licorice Pizza, is one of his most successful yet. Though it takes elements from his earlier efforts, such as the early 1970s setting of Inherent Vice and the San Fernando Valley landscape that’s been his calling card since Boogie Nights, it’s also Anderson’s first real attempt at a coming-of-age comedy.

The formative films of this genre were mostly released during the time period which Anderson captures in Licorice Pizza, though it has been making a resurgence recently with the success of independent films such as Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird. The unexplainable magic of growing up is forever captured by these startlingly true and brilliantly funny films, ones that Licorice Pizza can hope to one day join the ranks of.

Harold and Maude (1971)

Hal Ashby’s Harold and Maude follows the strange relationship between the titular characters, a young man and an elderly woman respectively, who meet at a funeral. Harold is constantly despondent and can’t get over his fixation on death, while Maude is almost his polar opposite, someone who is carefree and sees the world as her oyster (which also makes her a brilliant car thief).

This is a classic comedy that shares its setting of California in the 1970s, as well as the age gap between its protagonists, with Licorice Pizza. And like Anderson’s latest, it’s light and breezy at times, but full of hard-hitting emotional moments.

The Breakfast Club (1985)

The Breakfast Club is the perennial coming-of-age hangout movie, perpetually homaged but never equaled in its multilayered portrayal of teen angst. Writer-director John Hughes, who directed several teen comedies including Weird Science and Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, infused a high-concept premise about a group of very different teenagers stuck together in detention with verve and character.

For its accurate, empathetic portrayal of young adults who aren’t yet sure who they think they are, The Breakfast Club is an unparalleled masterpiece and an excellent companion to Licorice Pizza.

Booksmart (2019)

Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart is one of the greatest teen comedies in recent memory, telling the story of two best friends who set out to make up for their wasted high school years by having as much fun as possible the night before they graduate.

It’s a story that perfectly nails what it’s like to be a young adult in the 21st century, and is startlingly unique despite its similarities to other buddy-comedies like Superbad. Though it doesn’t have much in common with Licorice Pizza, both are great examples of what a modern coming-of-age movie should strive to be.

The Sandlot (1993)

Though the sports comedy The Sandlot is, like Licorice Pizza, a period piece set in the San Fernando Valley, it’s aimed at a younger audience than most of Anderson’s work. Still, fans of baseball will no doubt be rejuvenated by this warm, kindhearted tale of a group of kids whose stories intertwine over the most pivotal summer of their lives.

Though The Sandlot has never reached the heights of other nostalgic childhood films from its era, it’s a timeless tale that will continue to enthrall audiences for generations to come.

The Graduate (1967)

Mike Nichols’ The Graduate is one of the greatest American films ever made and one of the earliest true coming-of-age comedies. It follows Benjamin Braddock, a young man whose life has no discernable path, as he is forced to make a decision about his future after becoming ensnared in a love triangle with an older woman and her daughter.

Nichols won the Best Director Academy Award for the film, which also features star-making turns from Dustin Hoffman and Katharine Ross. Though it hasn’t aged as well as some of its contemporaries, it’s still a classic of the genre that continues to be recalled and imitated in pop culture.

What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993)

One of Leonardo DiCaprio’s best performances was a supporting role in the 1993 coming-of-age drama What’s Eating Gilbert Grape, which stars Johnny Depp as the titular character. Gilbert Grape is a grocery store employee who feels torn between his responsibility to take care of his broken family and his blossoming romantic relationship with a traveling visitor to his small town.

An eccentric, empathetic film that Paul Thomas Anderson has described himself as “obsessed with” (according to IndieWire), What’s Eating Gilbert Grape is one of the greatest additions to the coming-of-age canon of the last 30 years.

Lady Bird (2017)

Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird is a touching comedy-drama that ranks as one of the best directorial debuts of the 2010s. Following the journey of Christine “Lady Bird” Macpherson through her senior year of high school, the film approaches the awkward teenage years through a mature and introspective lens.

Anderson himself has praised the film (again, per IndieWire), specifically singling out the lead performance by Saoirse Ronan as like seeing “a magic trick in front of you.” Gerwig’s second film, Little Women, also stars Ronan and is another excellent coming-of-age tale.

American Graffiti (1973)

Before Star Wars, George Lucas found success with the 1973 comedy film American Graffiti, which follows a group of teens and their escapades on the final night of summer vacation. Based on Lucas’ own experiences cruising in Modesto, California, where the film is set, American Graffiti become a financial success and earned an Oscar nomination for Best Picture.

The similarities between the movies is hard to miss, and interestingly, a matinee showing of American Graffiti was also where Anderson premiered the first trailer of Licorice Pizza.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)

Amy Heckerling’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High isn’t entirely immune from the same cliched characterizations that earlier coming-of-age comedies suffer from. But to its credit, it’s a more layered and realistic portrayal of teen life than many of those.

Thanks should go in part to writer Cameron Crowe, who formed the loose narrative out of observations from his experience going undercover as a student at a Southern California high school. Anderson, meanwhile, has been outspoken in his praise, calling Fast Times at Ridgemont High one of two films that he told Variety was a “touchstone” for Licorice Pizza.

Everybody Wants Some!! (2016)

Everybody Wants Some!! follows the new members of a college baseball team as they spend their first days of freedom exploring the party scene against a backdrop of Texas in the 1980s. Director Richard Linklater’s spiritual sequel to Dazed and Confused, another praiseworthy movie with a loose narrative and incredible ensemble cast, Everybody Wants Some!! earned both mainstream critical acclaim and the approval of Paul Thomas Anderson.

In an interview with the L.A. Times, Anderson called the film “underrated” and added that he “[thinks] about it all the time” despite having only seen it once. The interviewer remarks that, like many of the other comedies that inspired Licorice Pizza, its primary function is as a “hang movie.”

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/coming-of-age-comedies-like-similar-licorice-pizza/

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