Palo Alto, CA

Watching this it's easy to believe it's an independent film, but I was surprised and impressed to learn it was also a first film for the producer, writer and director. The production values were very high, the casting was spot on, the direction was excellent, the music moved with the story, and the story telling was terrific. Hard to believe that the director couldn't legally drink at the post-production party because he was still under 21.

There are at least four major stories happening at once, each centered around one of four college friends who are back home in Palo Alto for Thanksgiving break. Other sub-plots and side-plots figure in, generally offering more meat than filler.

My only question was how these four guys actually came to be friends. High school tends not to be a very egalitarian environment, and it seemed to me that these four fellows might not have had enough in common in high school to be this close after a little college time.

Still, the individual stories were all true to life, not overly complex (which would have been inappropriate for the age of the characters), and interesting. Living in Palo Alto, part of me wishes the locale could have figured into the stories a tiny bit more, but that's a minor quibble. Not only do I recommend this (more of a guy flick than a chick flick), but I'll definitely watch it again. Well done, you first-timers!

I actually watched this movie after "IMDBing" Ben Savage and seeing this as his recent work decided to watch it. Also my Dad grew up in Palo,Alto Cal and I got even more interested. I don't usually watch independent films just because I usually never hear about them. But I actually really connected and liked this film, being around there age and feeling a bit confused in life at times. I sat down and watched and I was amazed with what I saw. So the next morning I made my sister watch it and she was just as amazed. This was by far one of the best I had ever seen. It reminded me of Juno or Nick and Norahs's infinite play list a bit. The performances are brilliant and actually has more truth to them then most movies. All I ask is you check it out. Give it a shot. And you might just find a new favorite like I did.

When I first discovered this movie in 2007, it had only been played at the Tribeca Film Festival. Then it was released for an audience at UCLA, and well i was more than anxious to see this movie . Even when it did make its way to DVD release, it was very difficult to find. Thank god for Netflix! I thought it would have a whole dazed and confused type feel to it. It didn't. But it still does emit that sort of indie movie feel when you watch it. Okay, so basically theirs a group of four friends, that are home from high school. Their all kind of going off in their own directions, but still trying to hold on to the past. Whats really neat about this film is that it all takes place over a course of one night. So you get very attached to the characters. You can really feel the actors confusion, care and emotion. I was so excited to see this movie mainly because of the cast. I've always found Tom Arnold very amusing, and who doesn't love Ben Savage (Boy Meets World). I was also curious to see Aaron Ashmore and Ryan Hansen reunite again after working so well together on Veronica Mars. After seeing Johnny Lewis play a tough biker in Sons of Anarchy, I found it a little hard to watch in such a meek/geeky role. But I guess it goes to show how much a dynamic actor he can be, because he has portrayed both quite well! The comedy is surely underplayed, but their are a few amusing(not funny) scenes.the camera work in the film is purely average.Does do a good job of depicting the changes we go through as we grow up. New relationships beginning, old ones ending.

A fall release would be good for commercial distribution. The target audience will identify with the story line more then.

I liked this movie. There was a literary quality to the story line which had genuine complexity and depth. The characters were engaging, the photography was well done, even lovely at times, there was some suspense that held the different threads of the story together...incredible that such a young group produced this film.

I hope this gets wide release.

I expect we will be seeing a lot more of Leong in the future. With a bigger budget these kids could produce blockbusters in a few more years.

I just saw Palo Alto at the Tribeca Film Festival. I loved this movie. Sure, any movie will seem better when you are seeing it at the world premier with members of the cast and crew in the theater, but this is a film that everyone can enjoy. If you liked Garden State you should definitely see this. For an older reference, think back to American Graffiti. The four high school friends who are home for Thanksgiving vacation meet and then separate for the evening. The movie follows the four on their different experiences. Usually when a movie does this I find that there are only one or two story lines that are interesting but in this case I was looking forward to the return of each character. The characters evolve in ways that are both entertaining and believable because the writing is real and the actors played their parts perfectly. Tom Arnold played the funny character who pops into scenes with wit and wisdom. While in some movies this character is one-dimensional, even this character had depth in Palo Alto. Also, the music was perfect and I hope a soundtrack is released. Be sure to see this movie when it is released.