The Jewish Heroism of Alana Haim and Andrew Garfield Stands Out in Screenplay Contenders ‘Licorice Pizza’ and ‘Tick, Tick … Boom!’
Watching “Licorice Pizza,” Paul Thomas Anderson’s cinematic love letter to 1970s San Fernando Valley, one thought continually played in my head: Alana Haim reminds me of me.
I don’t mean that in any solipsistic sense — I possess zero singing talent and my ability to play a musical instrument is confined to a year of violin and flute lessons in fourth grade wherein both instructors urged me (strongly, repeatedly) to focus on the literary arts. It also has nothing to do with looks.
While Haim is long and lean with straight, whiplash hair, I’ve got a rat’s rest of curls and a physique resembling my zaftig great-grandmother who birthed 11 children on a remote Ukrainian farm. Haim is newly 30; I’m in my 40s.