It's 1973 in the San Fernando Valley when cocky teen actor Gary Valentine (Philip Seymour Hoffman's son Cooper) and Alana Kane (first-time actor Alana Haim... from HAIM) cross paths at a photoshoot for child stars, where Kane, ambling in her 20s, earns a living. Valentine lays on his corny-yet-charming courtship tactics despite their age difference, and thus ensues Paul Thomas Anderson's latest film: a tale of first love dotted with absurd adventures (including a scene where Kane drives a gasless stick-shift down a winding hill to escape the wrath of Barbra Streisand's unhinged boyfriend).