Directed by Gia Coppola, the film that James Franco devotees will gorge on no matter the quality, Palo Alto, has just released its first trailer, providing a taste for the film focussing on the hedonism and carelessness of teens stuck in the eponymous town in California.
Based on the short story collection by perpetual jack of all trades James Franco, the novel hardly received glittering reviews: in fact, reviewers politely went and tore the thing to pieces, probably because they were mad jealous James Franco could land a book deal and get published without even trying. Publisher’s Weekly bluntly stated, “The author fails to find anything remotely insightful to say in these 11 amazingly underwhelming stories”, and the Los Angeles Times criticised Franco for spending too much time on style and “virtually none on substance.” Good thing James Franco is searingly self-aware and no doubt knows all of that, and has perhaps been elaborately trolling us this whole time.
The film adaptation, however, definitely looks promising: Palo Alto seems to be often painted in this dusky, golden light that hints at the perpetual end of a day, much like the core character’s impending adulthood; performances are suitably raw from Emma Roberts and Nat Wolff (and of course, James Franco). If the film is nothing like the book its based on, this could be stunning.
Watch the trailer below:
Via IndieWire.
