I think PTA is a much better director than writer, if I'm being honest. As a writer, he's a bit of an adventure. Some great scenes, but also very indulgent and uneven. You just aren't allowed to criticize him because he's been anointed as a film god already. Critics will look at his movies like a Rorschach blotter and find reasons to convince themselves it's brilliant.

As for Licorice Pizza, I think that's one of his stronger movies. My interpretation is that it's an honest love story compared to the typical Hollywood romances that present an idealized version of it. The Alana character meets a sequence of male archetypes (the macho man's-man Penn character, the "cool" swinging Cooper character, and the "virtuous" politician Safdie character who's living a lie). After sniffing around these men, she opts for the lowly Gary. Gary is ostensibly the least impressive of these men, but also the most genuine and caring. I can't say what PTA's intentions were, but my own interpretation is that the movie is about how real love may not resemble the idealized Hollywood version people are trained to expect.