Palo Alto, CA

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.

This movie was hilarious the entire way through. I couldn't stop laughing. I think that it's one of the most true to life college movies ever. Every single character reminded me of one of my friends or myself. The actors were brilliant, I've seen almost all of them in either TV shows or other movies. Anthony (played by Ryan Hansen) was just as funny in Party Down a new TV show on Starz which I would recommend to anyone who loved this. I fell in love with Jaime (Autumn Reeser who played Taylor in The OC and was in Smokin Aces 2) who is beautiful with such a nice way of life. The boy she met was Nolan Larson, also my friend's name, played by Johnny Lewis who was Chili in The OC. Tom Arnold was great as a bus driver and one of my favorite characters was the grandma played by the great Eve Brent (The Green Mile). This reminded me of Kicking and Screaming (1995 directed by Noah Baumbach) another true to life college movie that made me reminisce my college years. The only problem is that no one has seen this movie, they need a wide release to reach more audience members. I can't believe that Palo Alto was made by a 20 year old and I can't wait to see what he does next. He put a lot of thought into this movie to make it seem real and had a talented ensemble. Most college movies are just about scoring chicks and drinking beers but this is that and so much more. I'm sure that anyone can relate to a number of the characters. I can't wait to show this to my friends and hope to find it on DVD soon, I know this is the type of movie that I can watch over and over again and still like it just as much. I also recommend Metropolitan (1990 by Whit Stillman) which is a more intellectual side of college kids with great dialogue and a lot of laughs. Also, on the contrary another movie that is so true and almost defined my middle school years was Welcome to the Dollhouse (1995 by Todd Solondz who also directed Happiness) which I saw as a kid and almost lived it out to my own life and just realized it when I saw it a couple months ago.

The modern cure for every lost and cynical teen, "Palo Alto" aims to eliminate the common misconception that life must be perfect. The lifestyles of four college freshman yield separate crises that are inevitably tied together to exploit this theme.

For one character, the true meaning of fraternity brotherhood is understood--a relief granted by this film, as most college movies portray frats as only about "chicks and beer."

For another character, his life is turned around by an old bus driver and a lonely, quirky girl that is played tremendously well by Autumn Reeser.

There are other characters as well, but summarizing them here will give too much away.

To finalize: Being an independent film, it's up to the viewer to choose how to relate to each character. That said, it is definitely a "Thinker" film. So pay attention!

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.

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!