Oppenheim, a talented documentarian (Some Kind of Heaven, Ren Faire), basing the film on Luke Dittrich’s seminal Esquire article, “Tonight on Dateline This Man Will Die,” takes a kind of interpretive tack with Hansen. As portrayed by the ever-twisty Pattinson, the line between his performative self (thrusting out from behind a literal curtain with the professionally grave, self-important sweep of a high-school principal, or maybe a mortician) and his actual self with his wife and kids, gets smudged into a dark smear, leading him deeper into psychosis. At one point, when one of Hansen’s perp-jump scares goes wrong, he lies down in a fetal position and sinks into a fugue state, unable to be reached by the increasingly agitated Andie.

For the most part, however, Gunn has seemingly gotten Superman pretty much right. Corenswet is a real find, able to convey both Superman’s idealistic innocence and his feisty fury in equal measure (not unlike Chris Evans’ unforgettable Captain America). It’s a Superman willing to take a joke, and look at his life askew, without being overly concerned with appearances. 

Licorice Pizza establishes the careers of two young actors in their debuts as it slices up its teen romantic comedy into smaller hit-or-miss pieces.