Nunca llueve en California

At seventeen you have a mother who's distracted, a boyfriend to whom you're clearly not attracted, it's the summer time is free, and so it's with some joy and glee, that you let an older man, have you extracted; as he takes you out and you start to get close, he treats you well, and doesn't hide in the shadows, although alarm bells should be ringing, a waitress knows what he is bringing, there's lots of cons and only one important pros; but you let him take advantage and engage, you're streetwise, have a quite mature gauge (or so you believe), he wants to introduce a friend, has something you can help distend, you could profit, and make him a living wage.

Great performance from Lily McInerny.

Yes difficult to watch but very convincing. My daughter who is a psychologist works for a charity that counsel teenage Mothers and I know from talking to her how difficult and sometimes impossible it is to make these people see that the relationship they are in is really toxic. It doesn't always come from a particular type of girl some have a reasonable back story in as much as it isn't full of trauma and neglect but still they are attracted to a wrong'un and they won't be talked out of it. I don't know if some were not happy with an unsatisfying ending but that's how it goes in real life, people don't just suddenly wake up and see the mistake they made. Abusers are not always pimptastic and obviously abusive, some are very practiced and subtle and sadly that keeps their victim where they want them.

'Palm Trees and Power Lines' is about Lea (Lily McInerny) and her best friend Amber (Quinn Frankel) enjoying the summer as teenagers. After a random encounter, Lea meets Tom (Johnathan Tucker), a man twice her age, who offers to drive her home. Through a series of chance meetings, Lea develops feelings for Tom and they end up in a relationship, but she realizes too late that Tom's ulterior motives are underhanded and exploitive.

Acting and script are decent, characters are believeable, and the flow is solid. The main takeaway from this film is that Lea's mother, Sandra (Gretchen Mol) has her own busy interpersonal life and foesn't appear to take a serious interest in Lea. Her friends aren't mature enough for her, her boyfriend is a jerk, and Tom seems to be the answer to it all. The way the film presents the two of them feels organic and realistic.

Worth a watch!

In telling a cautionary tale, a film must be on point if its message is to be effectively conveyed. Regrettably, such is not the case in this story of a silver-tongued, 34-year-old sexual predator (Jonathan Tucker) in his efforts to win the affections of a disconnected adolescent from a fragmented household (Lily McInerny) and manipulate her into a life of degrading, subservient behavior. It's a troubling tale, to be sure, one that has an important point to make. However, the execution leaves much to be desired. The film's glacial pacing (especially in the first half) becomes tedious quickly, particularly with the inclusion of considerable needless incidental footage depicting mundane everyday activities, events that are undoubtedly intended to reflect the teen's monotonous worldview but that grow eminently tiresome in short order. This is compounded by uneven character development, most notably that of the vulnerable protagonist, whose persona wavers wildly from incisively streetwise to exceedingly naïve and plainly outspoken to severely inhibited, undermining the believability of who she's really supposed to be and her reactions to the circumstances she faces. That's perhaps nowhere more apparent than in the conclusion, which, in my view, also stretches credibility somewhat (though I know there are those who would definitely beg to differ with me on that point). To its credit, the performances are all quite good, having earned two of the picture's four Independent Spirit Award nominations for the portrayals turned in by Tucker and McInerny. Still, this overlong offering suffers from both the aforementioned issues, as well as some questionable camera work and a need for tighter editing. Writer-director Jamie Dack's debut feature may have its origins in good intentions, but its followthrough frequently - and often widely - misses the mark.

This is a very stunning debut film. The authenticity - the atmosphere, the acting - is stellar. The small-town teenage malaise is palpable. Lily McInerny is amazing, her portrayal of a doe-eyed adolescent longing for love but completely naive to life is excellent. Jonathan Tucker is completely believable as a charismatic "bad boy with heart."

My only gripe is that the story turns a bit fast and kind of strains credulity. Grooming takes time. And the situation would've been much more believable with drugs, which so often help people dissociate and bury trauma. But overall, an excellent take on a tough story.