Palo Alto

High school is a terribly boring time in a young person's life. Or that's what Gia Coppola wants you to think in her debut as a director. That doesn't mean that Palo Alto is at all a boring movie. Coppola perfectly captures all that James Franco wanted to say in his collection of short stories.

Eschewing any real plot line, the film follows the lives of four teenagers living in Palo Alto, a town in California; Teddy (Jack Kilmer), April (Emma Roberts), Fred (Nat Wolff) and Emily (Zoe Levin). Each of these teens know each other through school and the various parties they attend. They all have their own issues, whether it be self-esteem or addiction or both.

All of the performances by the main actors are amazing. Emma Roberts and Zoe Levin both play shy girls who come out of their shells only when certain people are around. Nat Wolff's unhinged Fred is played with such a ferocity and intensity I almost forgot that the character wasn't really. This is Jack Kilmer's first role and his talent is immediately apparent. The brooding character Teddy had something extra than in the book and I put that down to his first class performances.

James Franco and Val Kilmer also appear in minor roles. Franco (who wrote the book that the film is based on) plays the predatory(?) Mr B. and is passable in a role he created, although I guess he probably knows about the characters more than anyone. Val Kilmer is limited to only two scenes, but he made me laugh both times.

I am only just a tiny bit jealous of Gia Coppola (or any of the Coppola kids) for that matter. Not only does she have the benefit of her grandfather being one of the most well-known directors in Hollywood, but she is extremely talented when it comes to filmmaking too, although I guess when you grow up on your family's film sets something must have sunk in.

Verdict: Coppola makes a film that exceeds past the source material which it is based. She perfectly captures what it feels like to be a teenager of the current generation and is helped along by a superb young cast.