The movie has a lot of subversive and decidedly non-Christian actors in it (Benny Safdie, Sean Penn, the Haim sisters themselves), but right wingers who appreciate and cherish good art, which is increasingly hard to find in theaters, should not let that fact turn them off of it. Two major influences on this feature I perceive are American Graffiti and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, which were also bittersweet looks back at a more pure and communally oriented as well as less diverse Los Angeles. Licorice Pizza is a charming love story with surprisingly positive yet understated messages: women should know their place and respect men's judgment, ethnic traditions are important (at least for Alana's Jewish family), and there's more joy and fulfillment to be had in friends and romance than in wasting away one's youth working for some fake and gay politician.