Directed by Gia Coppola

Palo Alto is based on a series of short stories originally written by James Franco based on his experience at Palo Alto High School. Gia Coppola (25-26 years old at the time of release) rounded out his characters, morphed the narratives together, and created a feature-length film within the world. It was Coppola’s directorial feature debut, drawing tons of inspiration from The Virgin Suicides, the first film directed by her aunt, Sofia, in 1999.

Emma Roberts stars as April, a quiet but typical teenager navigating the challenges of high school — like simultaneously crushing on her soccer coach (Franco) and her classmate, Teddy (Jack Kilmer). A slice of life by definition, Palo Alto doesn’t often follow a distinguishable plot — but that’s part of the appeal.

Much like high school, the characters and spaces in this film feel real; there are moments of discomfort that seem steeped in a memory you never actually had, but feel like you did. It captures that recklessness that sometimes takes over the teenage mind.

The characters aren’t presented with malice or judgement, even when they’re doing arguably malicious things, and we get to see different sides of each of them. We meet Teddy days away from juvenile hall following a hit and run (for which he is at fault), but we also see him drawing portraits of sweet old ladies in a nursing home. His best friend Fred (Nat Wolff) might be cruel at times, but his father (Chris Messina) is even more troubled, making sexual advances toward Fred’s buddies.

Much of this film’s interest is overshadowed by the clear markings of an inexperienced director: Long stretches of footage with seemingly no point; underdeveloped scenes and character arcs with no conclusions; April’s bedroom dance scene.

And (this one isn’t Coppola’s fault) watching Franco foreshadow is own reality as the pedophilloic Mr. B is uncomfortable, to say the least.

Palo Alto, in it’s time, offered a look at teenage life that hadn’t yet been overplayed, but the movie doesn’t always land its punches. There are real and convincing moments of vulnerability, but there are plenty of underbaked plots, too. Coppola’s effort feels like a stepping stone toward a stronger voice. It might not be fair to critique her against her family name, but honestly, this outing didn’t convince me we need another Coppola in Hollywood.

This movie is bad.

My rating: 2.5/5