Review of Palo Alto (2014) by Dani W — 06 Sep 2014

I like the raw depth of this film. The teen drama genre has been around a long time and most of them appear to be close, if not exactly in the same. This was something very different. I found the characters in this movie, even if a little over the top at times, a true depiction of what a teens life could potentially be. I cannot personally relate to any of the characters, but I do feel a deep sadness and connection to what they are going through - this, by all means is the work of prodigious acting but it is in itself a big part of the film's success to make the correct selections. This film, however, is a slow paced, negatively enhanced drama, with no real uphill climb.

We start with a weak, open minded April (Emma Roberts), who is predictably a virgin looking for love and wanting that romance that apparently every young teen dreams of. Half of this movie is just her babysitting her Soccer coach's son and smoking a bunch of cigarettes, but there is something enlightening about that. She falls into an utterly creepy display of affection with her soccer coach Mr.B (James Franco), who plays his character well but makes his audience fall into an uncomfortable eerie silence. Though I found this detail ridiculously annoying, it was played out well and came across somewhat charming after it was all through. I didn't see it so "sick minded" after I got to know the characters a bit more. It's a massive accomplishment in my opinion, as such a sensitive subject as this could have gone, very, very wrong and its assumable I may not have been able to finish the film for that reason but the film picked itself up and created a very solid and worthy plot point.

Then we are introduced to the cliché of the movie itself, Teddy (Jack Kilmer) who is a shy, misunderstood musician longing to have April's heart. He struggles with the law and his friend Fred (Nat Wolff) who I guarantee you will want to slap silly by the end of the movie itself. We first see him at a party, which is often the setting this film lands itself in, creeping around and drinking until he's sick. In his drunken wonderings he has a run in with the town slut, Emily (Zoe Levin) who apparently will never have any respect for herself or others. He regrets this decision and the whole films goal is pushing, not easing, into April and Teddy's relationship which comes out from nowhere and ends on such a flat line.

This movie does have several plot holes, but they are patched up as the film proceeds on. There is no argument that it's messy and you want to uppercut half of the characters, but it's that that makes it so enjoyable. I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's just like those people you've known that keep making all the wrong choices and it makes you realize how much better off in life you are, everyone has met at least one of them and this film offers a lot of points to put you in a position of sympathy. You want to follow these characters and see if things ever get better for them, you want to know why they are the way they are, but the film falls flat and doesn't offer enough in that aspect. It gets you hooked, and then sort of just leaves you hanging. Overall, Palo Alto has a lot going for it; do I think it could have been executed better? Of course, as with anything there is potential for things to be greater; Do I think the film overall delivers? Yes, I enjoyed it.