OK, so I have to be honest here: the only reason I was really interested in this movie is because of its title. 'Was this really shot in Palo Alto?' I asked myself. I quickly concluded that no, at least as far as I could tell, this was not actually shot in Palo Alto - except for maybe a couple brief scenes that could have been Palo Alto.
But anyway, I'll stop writing the name Palo Alto for a bit now...I did enjoy this movie. It had some bizarre elements to it (a lot of Coppola films are more artsy than your average indie film) but it was filmed in a pretty intriguing way. My only gripe is that nothing really happened, here. Now, I like to think of myself as a pretty avid movie-watcher, so I know that not everything needs action, or explosions, or even a coherent plot, in order to grab an audience. Palo Alto accomplished the understated indie vibe it was going for, but I just felt like there was no conclusion. I didn't much care for the characters: they were all just kind of half-interesting or downright weird - so I didn't care that there was no conclusion, really. But I just thought it should be noted. PROS: An offbeat film that works well as a 'slice-of-life' movie, James Franco being mostly-charming and not too creepy, Jack Kilmer's performance as Teddy.
CONS: Sluggish character development, untied plot lines, Fred as a cryptic character
Bottom line: I liked this movie, but I'm either not aware enough to fully enjoy it (ie: pick up on the subtleties and implications) or I should've read Franco's book.
But anyway, I'll stop writing the name Palo Alto for a bit now...I did enjoy this movie. It had some bizarre elements to it (a lot of Coppola films are more artsy than your average indie film) but it was filmed in a pretty intriguing way. My only gripe is that nothing really happened, here. Now, I like to think of myself as a pretty avid movie-watcher, so I know that not everything needs action, or explosions, or even a coherent plot, in order to grab an audience. Palo Alto accomplished the understated indie vibe it was going for, but I just felt like there was no conclusion. I didn't much care for the characters: they were all just kind of half-interesting or downright weird - so I didn't care that there was no conclusion, really. But I just thought it should be noted. PROS: An offbeat film that works well as a 'slice-of-life' movie, James Franco being mostly-charming and not too creepy, Jack Kilmer's performance as Teddy.
CONS: Sluggish character development, untied plot lines, Fred as a cryptic character
Bottom line: I liked this movie, but I'm either not aware enough to fully enjoy it (ie: pick up on the subtleties and implications) or I should've read Franco's book.