‘One Night Only’ Skates by on Its Charm Without Digging Too Deep

August 6, 2026

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Tonight! Tonight! (CREDIT: Nicole Rivelli/Universal Pictures)

Starring: Monica Barbaro, Callum Turner, Maya Hawke, Julia Fox, Molly Ringwald, LeVar Burton, King Princess, Okieriete Onaodowan, Este Haim, Ziwe, Michelle Hurd

Director: Will Gluck

Running Time: 102 Minutes

Rating: R for Frank Pent-Up Sexuality

Release Date: August 7, 2026 (Theaters)

What’s It About?: It’s been three years since the United States outlawed premarital sex, save for a single annual 12-hour period of debauchery. Ergo, One Night Only is indeed the Carnal Version of The Purge. Pizzeria owner Owen (Callum Turner) is planning to use the occasion to propose to his girlfriend (Maya Hawke), but she actually thinks that they should sleep with other people. Meanwhile, daydreamer Allie (Monica Barbaro) is a singer of commercial jingles who plans to spend the evening hunting alongside her friend (King Princess), but she ditches her almost immediately. Left to wander the streets of NYC on their own, Owen and Allie keep bumping into each other throughout the night. It sure seems like the universe is trying to tell them to hook up, but their various hangups end up making that a rather roundabout journey.

What Made an Impression?: The Political Picture: Outlawing premarital sex sounds rather dystopian to me, but the society of One Night Only comes off as just plain frustrated and exhausted rather than oppressed. So you kind of just have to roll with the premise and not worry if it’s terribly realistic or not. Although, upon further consideration, I suppose there are real world examples of citizens continuing to have social lives despite the best efforts of governments taking their rights away. It would have been interesting to see ONO grapple more with the political implications of its premise (though it does a bit), but you kind of just have to accept that it has other things on its mind.
Worst-Laid Plans: Part of the One Night Only Mandate is that anyone partaking must use protection while having relations. This leads to a series of gags in which Owen and Allie desperately venture into any bodega and health clinic they can find in search of a condom, only for every location to inevitably be out of stock. Which begs the question: why wouldn’t these establishments increase their inventory tenfold or a hundredfold for the occasion? I understand the desire to create a desperate situation from a screenwriting perspective, but it’s hard not to be disappointed by such a lack of foresight.
They’re Dancing About It Too: A different running gag that I’m much more fond of takes its aim at an odd trend in the current media landscape. When we’re introduced to Allie, she’s singing Sara Bareilles’ inspirational anthem “Brave”, but it’s actually a reworked version for a psoriasis medication commercial. We’re also treated to revamped editions of “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and “A Thousand Miles”, the latter for a personal hygiene product. If this is the fate of all pop music in the 21st century, then that sounds more oppressive than the no-sex Mandate (but hilariously so).
Do They Win Us Over?: With One Night Only leaving me with multiple questions about its approach, its potential success ultimately comes down to how charming its leads are. And they’re pretty charming! Plus, director Will Gluck (Easy A, Anyone But You) is a reliable rom-com veteran with a knack for playing around with the tropes of the genre. Plus, I would be remiss not to mention the steady hands of Molly Ringwald as Owen’s mother and LeVar Burton as her boyfriend. Ultimately, I’m in the mood to root that it all works out for Allie and Owen, at least for the one night that I’m focused on them.

One Night Only is Recommended If You Like: Cheekiness over Profundity

Grade: 3 out of 5 Mandates

‘Licorice Pizza’ Invites Us to Come of Age, P.T. Anderson-Style

November 24, 2021

jmunney Cinema, Movie Reviews , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 1 Comment

Licorice Pizza (CREDIT: Paul Thomas Anderson/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures)

Starring: Alana Haim, Cooper Hoffman, Mary Elizabeth Ellis, John Michael Higgins, Skyler Gisondo, Este Haim, Danielle Haim, Moti Haim, Donna Haim, Christine Ebersole, Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Bradley Cooper, Benny Safdie, Joseph Cross, Maya Rudolph

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Running Time: 133 Minutes

Rating: R for Some Indelicate Language

Release Date: November 26, 2021 (Theaters)/Expands December 25, 2021

When I hear the title “Licorice Pizza,” it makes me think of that classic Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen song about putting every conceivable topping you can think of on the top of the crust. I can’t help but shout, “Licorice? Put it on the pizza!” But as it turns out, the directorial approach of Paul Thomas Anderson vis-a-vis Licorice Pizza has basically nothing in common with the Olsen twins. That’s okay, though!

Instead, this movie has me feeling like Linda Richman, which is to say, “Licorice Pizza is neither licorice, nor pizza: discuss.” So discuss I will! A couple of kiddos named Alana (Alana Haim) and Gary (Cooper Hoffman) cross paths in 1973 in the San Fernando Valley and then strike up a sorta-friendship, maybe-romance, partnership-in-hustling. Gary’s an accomplished child actor, but when he meets up with Alana, they switch their focus to selling waterbeds. They eventually splinter off into their own interests, as they get involved with the likes of politics and pinball legalization, contend with a gas crisis, and meet a bunch of memorable characters along the way. It feels like Anderson wanted to make a movie about some of the touchstone moments of his youth (or toddlerhood – he was born in 1970) and created a couple of central characters who could Forrest Gump their way through it all. Not a bad idea if you have a knack for populating an ensemble cast full of an endless stream of oddballs and eccentrics.

One question I had throughout watching Licorice Pizza was:just how old are Alana and Gary really? She says she’s 25, and he says he’s 15, which sounds perfectly plausible at first. But it’s of course more than a little concerning that a twentysomething would be hanging out so much with a teenager. Although it doesn’t come across as creepy as it could, mostly because Gary feels a lot older than he ostensibly is. I suppose that’s the lot of the child actor, to mature faster than everyone else (in some ways). Furthermore, when you consider all the various business ventures that are launched and folded over the course of the runtime, it feels like multiple years must be passing. So I started to surmise that maybe Gary was a little older by the end of it all anyway. But actually, I’m pretty sure all this action somehow takes place within one year (or less!). Latchkey kids apparently could get away with a lot way back when. Or in Gary’s case, teenage adults could do pretty much whatever they wanted in the 70s. These are the discombobulating thoughts I had while watching this movie!

In conclusion, Licorice Pizza is more or less a series of chuckle-inducing zesty vignettes with a bent-but-bighearted emotional throughline. Worth checking out!

Licorice Pizza is Recommended If You Like: Old sitcom bits and other pop culture ephemera, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Sisters yelling at each other

Grade: 3.5 out of 5 Waterbeds