Palo Alto (2013)

This independent movie has a lot to offer besides its familiar story of good kids in California doing dumb things. The acting is strong, the pace is certain, and there are so many famous relatives your head will spin. James Franco wrote some short stories and Gia Coppola, (daughter of Francis' late son Giancarlo and niece of Sofia) adapted them into the script for her directorial debut. Franco (last blogged in This Is the End) co-stars as the soccer coach, but the movie belongs to Jack Kilmer (son of Val and Joanne Whalley; Jack Kilmer's screen debut) and Emma Roberts (daughter of Eric, niece of Julia; most recently in We're the Millers) as the sweet kids Teddy and April making bad choices. Teddy's loose-cannon best friend Fred is played by Nat Wolff (son of Polly Draper and musician Michael Wolff; covered in Admission) and he's very good. Gia's mother Jacqui Getty (after Giancarlo died she married Peter Getty, son of J. Paul; she had a small part in something else and here's some tabloid coverage) plays April's mom and Val Kilmer (last in When You're Strange) her eccentric stepfather. April's naughty friends include  Zoe Levin (bitchy daughter in The Way Way Back), Olivia Crocicchia (most recently in Terri), and Margaret Qualley (daughter of Andie MacDowell). Jack spotted Don Novello (best known as Father Guido Sarducci on SNL) but we both missed Talia Shire in cameos.

The soundtrack is by Devonté Hynes (Blood Orange) and Coppola's cousin Robert Schwartzman, and includes tracks by Nat Wolff and Jack Kilmer. This link tells you about the soundtrack on Spotify, but once on the app, I had to search for Palo Alto and got some different tunes. Still good.

Rotten Tomatoes critics come in at 72% and audiences at 65. We saw it three weeks ago in its limited run. You may want to check it out when the DVD comes out September 9, 2014.