Good story, Not enough for a whole film

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Palo alto is one in thousands movies talking about young people, but the first one that make you think for real. First movie that make you think why young people do stuffs, cuz they are bored, hiperactive or just lost? In other movies you have protagonist and antagonist and at the end someone win and live happy, but this movie is talking about how young people have only one problem, to realize who are they. Teddy, April, Emily and Fred are friends who struggle to realize who are they, they are drinking, doing drugs, fall in love... We all were one of them Teddy and Fred are best friend but they are totally different, Ted is quiet boy who falls in love with April but he is just to shy to tell her that and on the way to tell her that he's making some really bad moves like cause car crash and runaway, drinking a lot just don't thinking about effects also he's best friend is Fred who just can't stop acting crazy fighting, screwing around but through the movie we can see how insecure he is. April is always nice with Teddy and it looks like she want him too but her coach who is played buy James Franco is wooing on her and she's like all, she made one bad step and give him a chance but he coach is older and hurt her very soon, now she need to think about school, love life, and all the other stuffs. And at the end Emily young girl who want a boy to love her doesn't matter who and she is giving a chance to everyone and people start looking at her like she's sl** It's just so realistic, and for me best generation movie ever even better than dazed and confused. So will Teddy find the way to tell the true, will April find the way to finally do something, will Emily find real love, will Fred wake up? Enjoy

The worst movie I have ever seen... James Franco I love you, but your character was a pedophile. Nat Wolff, I love you , but... You were an idiot, I like the scene in which the girl breaks the bottle in your head. I really like your jogging suit in that part. Jack Kilmer... I never saw you in other movie, but... You are beautiful! You play the fool, and still, I admire you. Talking about the movie itself, it is a movie for teens...And I already got over this stage of my life. The film is to entangled and the problems are not really solved at the end. I hope Gia Coppola realizes that being the granddaughter of Francis Ford Coppola does not mean you are great... Rethink of what you do and leave the space to someone who really has the talent and passion.

From what I can tell, James Franco really cranks them out. From what I have seen, however, most of those efforts fall flat. It is as if his mind works so fast he just has to get product out there, no mater how half-baked it comes off.This is yet another story of his about how truly messed up the Millennials are. I am no spring chicken and can reference "teen angst" films all the way back to Cheaper by the Dozen. We had James Dean and Brando; we had The Beats, the Hippies, the Brat Pack, the 90210-ers, and now the Millennials. All I can say is, with the other groups, they at least seemed to WANT to grow up. Millennials on the other hand don't seem to have the slightest desire to. Cliché, cliché, cliché. I have never understood the fascination with filmmakers to film so-called teens trashing someones' house at a party as if it is expected of them. Of course the teen hostess makes the obligatory plea to behave or her parents will kill her. All that was missing was the pizza rotating on a stereo turntable (flashback to the 20th Century. Sorry.). I was very popular in high school but never attended a party where we would entertain wandering off into a parents' bedroom for a hook up. Nor did we sit around and play games giving away sex secrets (if we even had any such secrets). There was such a thing as SHAME.Of course, as with most teen movies, we never really know where the parents (adults) are and if we do see them, they are just extended versions of adolescence - nobody ever wants to be "old." None of these kids "problems" seemed sympathetic unless you realize they did not get this way by themselves, that there were actually generations BEFORE them who set the scene.As I said, I have seen a few Franco films now, particularly an attempt at comedy where the world came to an end (he played himself in that one). Atrocious.Most teen angst films focus on the teens' desire for respect as adults from adults; anxiety about the future, etc. These kids in Palo Alto could not seem to care less. It is all about them - NOW. Tomorrow? What is THAT?

Although the characters are in high school, this is not a typical "coming of age" movie. Each of the character's are struggling with their own personal demons, less tangible than the typical class bully or the hard to get cheerleader. They are filling their boredom or the lack of love Coppola alludes to by the parents who constantly talk on the phone, or play video games, and generally seem distracted, if well meaning. They are plagued with eruptions of emotion and no outlet, causing characters like Nat Wolff's to act recklessly, driving towards traffic on the left side of the road, in order to keep from feeling numb. There is a paradox of emotional numbness and simultaneous intense emotional turmoil that exists in adolescence- when Jack Kilmer's character accuses Emma Robert's character of not caring about anything, she responds by asserting that she cares too much about everything. These conflicting feelings of caring for nothing and everything at the same time cause the characters to act without purpose. They have sex without love. They smoke cigarettes. They self destruct.