While all the young actors are committed to their characters (though none of them particularly stand out), this film will likely drown in its own nothingness as far more thought-provoking teenage fare continues to prevail.

| Original Score: C | Sep 2, 2017

The drama is scaled to just the right size: kids get into trouble or inadvisable situations, but there are no major melodramatics. We see them in their natural habitat.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 24, 2014

Another week, another glacial outing from the ever-expanding Coppola clan depicting the oh so beautiful emptiness of American teenage wildlife.

| Original Score: 2/5 | Oct 19, 2014

The director Gia Coppola (granddaughter of Francis Ford Coppola) gets under the skin of protagonists who seem like pampered, listless delinquents on the surface but who all turn out to be lost souls.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 17, 2014

If you've seen Dazed and Confused, Thirteen and/or The Myth of the American Sleepover you'll know exactly what's coming.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 17, 2014

All of this is potentially irritating to say the least, and yet, despite the junior star entitlement and teen-angst cliches, the film is unexpectedly engaging.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Oct 16, 2014

Gia Coppola's debut about the teen experience has a lyricism that transcends James Franco's mediocre source.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 16, 2014

It might not feel fresh but Palo Alto feels real, honest and moving. An impressive debut by an exciting new talent.

| Original Score: 4/5 | Oct 2, 2014

The performances are excellent and the result is an altogether sympathetic, if not entirely original film, from the latest member of a talented movie dynasty.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 15, 2014

Ultimately, "Palo Alto" is a messy yet haunting portrait of a particular time in life.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Jun 12, 2014

As lovely as it sometimes is, what this film needs is a little more shape and a little less ambience. It's a delicate balance admittedly tricky to achieve, but one that is clearly within the capability of this talented new filmmaker.

| Original Score: 3/5 | May 29, 2014

It's accurate to say that "Palo Alto" is another movie by another Coppola about the lives of the rich, bored and disaffected, but that description sells the movie short.

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | May 29, 2014

While it shows Coppola has talent, it's also as aimless as her characters' self-absorbed, self-medicated, joyless lives.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | May 24, 2014

That Coppola finds occasional grace and spirit here shows understanding and compassion. Her next assignment? Make a movie that's not about the troubles of the privileged and bored.

| Original Score: B- | May 23, 2014

"Palo Alto" feels earnest and promising, but half-formed.

| Original Score: 2/4 | May 22, 2014

One misty night in northern California (played by SoCal's San Fernando Valley) bleeds into another in Palo Alto, our grasp on these characters just as tenuous in the end as it was in the beginning.

| May 21, 2014

It's hard getting past the benign "menace" of the gangs, the corny out-of-touchness of the parentals, the stodgy morality of it all.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 16, 2014

"Palo Alto" has a strong feel for youthful fumblings that fall between self-pity and self-definition, and it's especially wise about the parallel world of American adolescents ...

| Original Score: 3/4 | May 15, 2014

The adaptation of this coming-of-age tale is stylishly brought to the screen, even if it feels a bit light on substance.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | May 15, 2014

The movie often recalls Larry Clark's early work in its effortless authenticity, though in contrast to his emotional brutality, the tone here is gentle and understanding.

| May 15, 2014