Review of Palo Alto (2014) by Joe M — 30 Aug 2014

You'd never think an adaptation of a collection of short stories by James Franco of all people would add up to a remarkable film, and an amazing film debut from director Gia Coppola at that. But that's Palo Alto.

Coppola is of course the granddaughter of the great Francis Ford Coppola, daughter of Roman and nice to Sophia and only 27. Franco is 36 and is everywhere. Palo Alto isn't a shallow exercise in hipness though.

It's a film of delicate business that takes you by surprise and stays with you. Plot isn't exactly the most important thing here for Coppola. The setting is the privileged world of Palo Alto, Calif.

The focus is two teens, April (Emma Roberts) and Teddy (Jack Kilmer), high school seniors who can barely communicate with one another. The Fault In Our Stars this is not since Coppola, with the aid of cinematographer extraordinaire Autumn Cheyenne Durald, imbues the film with a surrealness that's more David Lynch than YA.

Of course alcohol, drugs and sex are central, but so is the inherent awkwardness of of growing up and being intimate with others. Dramatic intrusion comes in the form of Fred (Nat Wolff, outstanding), Teddy's volatile best friend, and Emily (Zoe Levin, terrific) who tends to use bjs as icebreakers.

Then there's Mr. B (Franco), an older soccer coach who has a creepy interest in April. April's parents all that much help to her either, they being Coppola's mother, Jacqui Getty, and the man himself, Val Kilmer, who is Jack's father in real life.

But the show belongs to the teens, navigating their own plans for uncertain futures. Coppola skillfully makes us care, capturing the fleetingness and rapture of first love, complemented by Roberts and Kilmer's mesmerizing performances, full of feeling that never gets cloying.

It shows a born filmmaker in Coppola, who is allergic to bullshit. Palo Alto is a hypnotic experience that doles out harsh truths but also bracing compassion. It's a keeper.