Review of Palo Alto (2014) by Victoria B — 30 May 2014

This movie was surprisingly good, in my opinion. I'm not, however, surprised the audience liked it less than the critics. People in the theater were laughing at really inappropriate scenes as if they had it in their mind from the start it was going to be one of those adolescent stories that attempts to be real enough but quirky and funny.

Yeah, in tiny ways it does give a taste of that "Mean Girls" humor but to me, the sole intention of this film is to be capital-R-Real. And it is. I saw a critic below assert something along the lines of "It evaporates when it's over like bong smoke.

" I found the ending quite artful and again, supporting it's "realness." 4 stars for being good, 5 for being better than I expected. ADDED: After reading other audience reviews just now, and considering how the audience reacted in my theater, it's clear to me now a lot of things went straight over their heads.

Not to say this is a perfect movie or one of the best, because it's not by far, and it's definitely not for everyone. But I read a few comments concerning character development? Where was there a lack of character development? The 5 or so characters the film is centered around had definite layers to them.

The subtlety clashed with the obvious turmoils of Fred, the emptiness of April, the insecurities of Teddy, and the tragedy that is Emily's longing just to be loved, wanted, or even just appreciated.

It was beautiful, and subtle, like I said.