“What’s going through your mind when you’re doing that… or do you not think at all?” Those words, familiar to any teenager and parent, get yelled at Teddy (Jack Kilmer) about halfway through Palo Alto. Teddy, still in high school, is on probation after his second arrest, his final chance to get his act together before facing time in a juvenile detention center. The line, though, could have been directed at nearly any of the teenagers in Gia Coppola’s thoughtful debut feature, which offers an empathetic account of teenage tribulations but also makes a good case for why the phrase “troubled youth” is needlessly tautological.
Coppola, who here extends her family’s predilection for producing talented directors one generation further, seems to have taken most from her Aunt Sofia’s films. Palo Alto shares the soft visual tones of Somewhere and Lost in Translation, their patient pacing, and their tendency to linger on mundane moments that, in accumulation, offer a comfortable intimacy. When Coppola rests her camera on Teddy sullenly playing his guitar, or on the timid April (Emma Roberts) giving herself pep talks in front of the mirror in her room, there’s no overt purpose to the shots, just a steady portrayal of the inchoate emotions of youth.
Coppola captures her characters only halfway to adulthood: they drink too much, experiment sexually, and put on an air of maturity, but their bedrooms are still filled with elementary school photos and childhood decorations. Their reckless actions can reflect an abundance of confidence—they drive drunk and cut down trees in cemeteries—but, just as often, they only highlight a persistent immaturity, such as when Fred (Nat Wolff), Teddy’s best friend, draws sexual pictures in a children’s book at the library.
Palo Alto, which is based on a collection of short stories by James Franco, displays a refreshing lack of handwringing over these acts.Coppola knows there’s a difference between acting out and behaving immorally, just as there’s a difference between the absent but loving parents who populate the movie and adults like Mr. B (James Franco), April’s teacher, who flirts and sleeps with his students.