Here's James Franco Hitting on a Teenage Girl in His Latest Movie

Here’s a clip — courtesy of Vulture — of James Franco playing a high school soccer coach who flirts inappropriately with one of his players in the upcoming film Palo Alto. Looks like art really does imitate life.

OR DOES LIFE IMITATE ART? There’s still a chance that Franco landing in hot (er — slightly lukewarm) water early last month for trying to pick up a teenage girl on Instagram could have been a part of a larger Palo Alto viral marketing campaign. My coworker Callie Beusman doesn’t think so and I trust her implicitly, but it’s not like it would be the weirdest thing Franco’s ever done. It would, however, be the eye roll-iest.

The movie, based on Franco’s short story collection of the same name, centers around the lives of suburban teens and co-stars Emma Roberts (daughter of Eric Roberts), Kyle Kilmer (son of Val Kilmer) and Nat Wolff (whose mother is thirtysomething actress Polly Draper). It is directed by Gia Coppola (granddaughter of Francis Ford). If anyone can relate to the experience of small town, middle class teens, it’s these fine people.

Here’s the full preview:

Putting aside the need to goof on Franco, it’s worth pointing out that critics seem to be feeling pretty good about Palo Alto so far.