A Letter to C. Hoffman (Licorice Pizza)
Dear Cooper,
“Who writes letters anymore?” is a line I used in a letter to an Irish woman once (she didn’t write back), but I think it’s a decent move here, if only because I don’t know how else to write about the movie you were in. I mean, Licorice Pizza, wow what a flick– I’m a big PTA guy, but he somehow finds ways to surpass even your highest of expectations and make you laugh, cry, think, feel. It was almost too good- why’d you all have to knock it out of the park and make it look so friggin fun doing it? It makes me sad I haven’t spent more of my life making movies and that my high school years were not like that (kinda like Fast Times at Ridgemont High or Dazed and Confused in that regard).
I’ve been in L.A. for two months now and think it’s pretty sweet, even with the restrictions and the state of the world we’re in. I can’t imagine what it was like in the early 70s. I’ve played some pinball before though and am not too bad (if you ever can find the NBA Fastbreak definitely give it a whirl).
It’s a great name your character has, Gary Valentine. It seems on the nose now, but it’s not in the movie (a little Pynchonian perhaps). I’ve heard people say Licorice Pizza is a love letter to your costar, Alana Haim (tell her to forget about that Instagram DM I wrote if you can), or the Valley even. I’m tempted to say it’s a love letter to the movies themselves, or a love letter to love or life itself, man. It’s you and Alana, it’s Joel Wachs (Benny Safdie) and Matthew (Joseph Cross), it’s Jon Peters (Bradley Cooper) and Barbara Strei-sand, it’s everyone in Alana’s family, you and the hustle, Wachs and his vision for a bright future, Alana and her hope to play a role in that, Sean Penn echoing Joaquin Phoenix’s motorcycle trip off into the horizon in The Master except this time he’s jumping over fire…
I don’t know what to say of Haim that won’t detract from the ineffable quality of her performance, as natural as the breeze rolling off the surf here. She doesn’t even think of herself as an actor? I’ve started listening to her music, but have a hard time imagining her as anything else now (if movies are dreams, and dreams tell the future then maybe she’s always been a thespian and her whole music thing is a second-act in reverse). How was it acting with her? You all seem so natural together, it’s wild.
Anyways, I just wanted to wish you well on this journey ahead, whatever you end up doing (selfishly I hope it’s acting). As an outsider looking in, I can’t speak to the particulars of the business itself, but I’m sure as in life there will be some tough times and valleys on the road ahead. So all I can say is the motto of one my all-time favorite baseball teams, the 2019 Washington Nationals: “stay in the fight.” And keep surprising us.
Best,
Brian Callahan
P.S. If you have an in with any of the Haim sisters can you please put in a good word? And say hi to Paul for me, I love that guy.
