I was somehow curious to see this picture, it seems like it was yesterday that i first head about it last summer when it premiered at Telluride, sh*t i can barely believe that it has been a whole year, that makes me kind of depressed but i guess it's a side-effect of seeing this picture. I knew little about it but the solid buzz and the fact that it was directed by the Gia Coppola(Francis Ford Coppola's granddaughter) certainly made me interested in seeing it.
Palo Alto is Directed by Gia Coppola and it stars Emma Roberts, James Franco, Val Kilmer, Colleen Camp, Jack Kilmer, Keegan Allen, Nat Wolff, Olivia Crocicchia, Christian Madsen, Zoe Levin and Don Novello. "Shy, sensitive April is the class virgin, torn between an illicit flirtation with her soccer coach Mr. B and an unrequited crush on sweet stoner Teddy. Emily, meanwhile, offers sexual favors to every boy to cross her path - including both Teddy and his best friend Fred, a live wire without filters or boundaries. As one high school party bleeds into the next - and April and Teddy struggle to admit their mutual affection - Fred's escalating recklessness starts to spiral into chaos."
I went into Palo Alto without really knowing what it was about, i knew nothing about it actually and i got to say that that definitely opened some room to be surprised, which i certainly was, this is a flawed but yet remarkably true depiction of a coming of age story in modern society.
I'm usually not a fan of coming of age stories, they are usually corny, have happy endings and i found them boring and hard to relate to, here we have a familiar but yet unique coming of age story that follows the discovery and problems that adolescence brings. Some of the remarks that have been regarding this movie is that, it follows the problems of white rich kids and their meaningless problems, that these are just spoiled kids. Well i wont deny that because it is true, these are rich spoiled kids and their problems when faced with "adult" problems probably seem meaningless, but i mean did you forget what it was to be a kid a teenager? It's all about meaningless problems when you look back but the fact is that they didn't seem that way at the time didn't they. Are these problems really that meaningful, these spoiled kids might have everything a parent could wish to give them, a good education, a car and freedom but these kids lack love and our lead characters April and Teddy certainly feel alienated in this modern superficial society they live in, they feel unloved, out of place and to make that pain go way they use drugs, they hurt themselves, they call for attention when all they needed was a little care and something to relate to. They just needed to be with each other.
Some people will likely hate this film because it seems to be pretentious and over serious over it's subject matter, because the characters portrayed aren't exactly likable because their problems seem superficial and empty. I didn't find that to be that way, yeah these characters aren't exactly likable but i couldn't help but to care for them, these kids aren't bad, they might be a bit ungrateful but certainly not bad, they are just lost and there's a time in everybody's life where you don't know what's your place in this world is and i think that's what the film is all about, about discovery, about trying to find yourself in this harsh, rotten but ultimately beautiful world. I think the film also deals with subjects of corruption and superficiality that we find in our society, in the end we might put masks but like the characters in here we just want to find love.
I got to say that i found love in this picture and that love is Emma Roberts, oh my god this girl is just beautiful. I fell in love right way probably because she reminds me of a high school sweat heart of mine. She has done things in her past but nothing nearly as good as this, this is a very good performance, i think the whole cast makes quite a good performance, these character do really come to life in the hands of these talented actors and director. Emma Roberts is followed by Jack Kilmer who is a fantastic surprise here, giving an excellent debut performance that hopefully will help him in the future to get more solid roles such as this one. Nat Wolff is not a first timer but he also does a solid job as the crazy over the top Fred. James Franco, whose short stories actually inspired this film which certainly deserves to be mentioned, also appears here and so does Val Kilmer himself.
Palo Alto might be a little bit inconsistent especially as it gets towards it's end but i always found it to be a surprisingly true depiction of what it is to be an teenager, i didn't and you probably also didn't have such an exciting adolescence as these kids when it comes to drugs and alcohol but i do think that most people will be able to still relate and find something of themselves in these kids problems, well at least i did. Gia Coppola's first feature film ends up being quite a surprise, good performances, palpable tone, i could almost smell the pot, overall good direction that just comes to prove that talent must really go through the blood of Coppola's family. *I'm quite excited to see what some of these actors and Gia herself will have to offer in the future, let's hope for a fine career.
Rating:B
Palo Alto is Directed by Gia Coppola and it stars Emma Roberts, James Franco, Val Kilmer, Colleen Camp, Jack Kilmer, Keegan Allen, Nat Wolff, Olivia Crocicchia, Christian Madsen, Zoe Levin and Don Novello. "Shy, sensitive April is the class virgin, torn between an illicit flirtation with her soccer coach Mr. B and an unrequited crush on sweet stoner Teddy. Emily, meanwhile, offers sexual favors to every boy to cross her path - including both Teddy and his best friend Fred, a live wire without filters or boundaries. As one high school party bleeds into the next - and April and Teddy struggle to admit their mutual affection - Fred's escalating recklessness starts to spiral into chaos."
I went into Palo Alto without really knowing what it was about, i knew nothing about it actually and i got to say that that definitely opened some room to be surprised, which i certainly was, this is a flawed but yet remarkably true depiction of a coming of age story in modern society.
I'm usually not a fan of coming of age stories, they are usually corny, have happy endings and i found them boring and hard to relate to, here we have a familiar but yet unique coming of age story that follows the discovery and problems that adolescence brings. Some of the remarks that have been regarding this movie is that, it follows the problems of white rich kids and their meaningless problems, that these are just spoiled kids. Well i wont deny that because it is true, these are rich spoiled kids and their problems when faced with "adult" problems probably seem meaningless, but i mean did you forget what it was to be a kid a teenager? It's all about meaningless problems when you look back but the fact is that they didn't seem that way at the time didn't they. Are these problems really that meaningful, these spoiled kids might have everything a parent could wish to give them, a good education, a car and freedom but these kids lack love and our lead characters April and Teddy certainly feel alienated in this modern superficial society they live in, they feel unloved, out of place and to make that pain go way they use drugs, they hurt themselves, they call for attention when all they needed was a little care and something to relate to. They just needed to be with each other.
Some people will likely hate this film because it seems to be pretentious and over serious over it's subject matter, because the characters portrayed aren't exactly likable because their problems seem superficial and empty. I didn't find that to be that way, yeah these characters aren't exactly likable but i couldn't help but to care for them, these kids aren't bad, they might be a bit ungrateful but certainly not bad, they are just lost and there's a time in everybody's life where you don't know what's your place in this world is and i think that's what the film is all about, about discovery, about trying to find yourself in this harsh, rotten but ultimately beautiful world. I think the film also deals with subjects of corruption and superficiality that we find in our society, in the end we might put masks but like the characters in here we just want to find love.
I got to say that i found love in this picture and that love is Emma Roberts, oh my god this girl is just beautiful. I fell in love right way probably because she reminds me of a high school sweat heart of mine. She has done things in her past but nothing nearly as good as this, this is a very good performance, i think the whole cast makes quite a good performance, these character do really come to life in the hands of these talented actors and director. Emma Roberts is followed by Jack Kilmer who is a fantastic surprise here, giving an excellent debut performance that hopefully will help him in the future to get more solid roles such as this one. Nat Wolff is not a first timer but he also does a solid job as the crazy over the top Fred. James Franco, whose short stories actually inspired this film which certainly deserves to be mentioned, also appears here and so does Val Kilmer himself.
Palo Alto might be a little bit inconsistent especially as it gets towards it's end but i always found it to be a surprisingly true depiction of what it is to be an teenager, i didn't and you probably also didn't have such an exciting adolescence as these kids when it comes to drugs and alcohol but i do think that most people will be able to still relate and find something of themselves in these kids problems, well at least i did. Gia Coppola's first feature film ends up being quite a surprise, good performances, palpable tone, i could almost smell the pot, overall good direction that just comes to prove that talent must really go through the blood of Coppola's family. *I'm quite excited to see what some of these actors and Gia herself will have to offer in the future, let's hope for a fine career.
Rating:B
