Ventura and Zelzah

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1970's Los Angeles. In the haze of a hot San Fernando Valley summer, Douglas and his friends -- Hank, Weddy, and Ronnie -- hilariously struggle with their awkward early teenage years during a confusing and shockingly permissive era. The young teens face adult opportunities at every turn - pot, alcohol, and sex (or what passes for sex at age 13 or 14) are regularly available, and most of the kids freely partake. In the meantime, all of them navigate their own individual family dramas at home: Douglas has to play peacemaker between his fed-up mom and his angry older brother while trying to be okay with his mother's boyfriend recently moving in with them and maintain a relationship with his father who lives just a few blocks away with his new wife, but who Douglas only sees once or twice a week at most. And, of course, there's his up-and-down romance with the lovely Natalia. Hank is a star basketball player, but he's been having strange coordination issues as of late, and his game is suffering as a result, right when he's on the cusp of becoming the most highly recruited 9th grader in the Valley. Weddy is the perennial underachiever, the most brilliant kid in his class who chooses to spend his time smoking pot with Ronnie, the car mechanic's kid with a dreary homelife, but an enormous sense of humor. When not in the swimming pool trying to beat the intense Valley heat, Douglas and his friends spend their summer doing typical teen activities: Taking the RTD into Westwood to see Jaws, spending the Fourth of July at Balboa Park, going to Magic Mountain, checking out the head shop and the turquoise jewelry at The Sixth Chakra, eating hot dogs and facing Koufax in the batting cage at Flooky's, and playing lots and lots of basketball. Their incessant teasing and bantering keep the action light and fun as they enjoy what might be their last summer without any responsibilities. After Douglas goes on a beer run with an older girl he'd just met at a party, things soon fall apart between him and Natalia, and the free-spirited summer gives way to a more serious autumn, which turns increasingly darker when a Halloween prank goes awry. Douglas and his friends are forever changed by the experience, and go on to face the future in their own unique ways, some optimistic and hopeful, others just trying to survive long enough to make it into adulthood.