By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2 cats
Director: Nicole Riegel
Starring: Erin Reardon | Jenny McManus | KiKi Layne | Melanie Nicholls-King | Thomas Doherty
Year: 2024
Running time: 113
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22866050/reference/
Brett says: “From director Nicole Riegel, DANDELION is the latest installment of musical drama that showcases the title fictional singer-songwriter in the familiar position of struggling artist. In fact, much of the plot within is familiar territory for many audiences. The conflict weaves the struggles of an independent performer trying to find her way, and along that journey, a potential romantic interest–in true Byronic hero fashion–has a chance encounter with said artist and things intensify from there.
“The music style is that of a blues-folk/contemporary-alt folk approach. Fans of that type of music will surely find comfort in the writing, revising, and finished product methodology featured in the film. Perhaps the most clever layer of depth that the film aims for is the symbolic ties of the cycle of difficulties, complications, and even mini-victories of the songwriting process in comparison to the process of building a relationship.
“The film really frolics in attempts at visual language throughout. Close-ups flood the screen. There are also tons of landscape shots and a confusing amount of ‘ride-along’ sequences that are nothing more than driving/riding on highways or off-the-beaten-path roads. It is possible for some of this to come across as indulgent or even without a specific end goal in mind, not exactly adding to the romantic build in the way it intends, mostly due to the fact that the story arc is so very familiar. The extraneous attempts to lure the audience into what is happening between two people is not particularly surprising, breathtaking, or heart-wrenching since the attempted build of undercurrents are really just precursors to what most everyone watching has already expected.
“There are a few scenes where emotions get out of hand pretty abruptly without the appropriate amount of build, especially when other moments that might require a blowup are more muted. Amid these blowups, the dialogue choices are precarious at best. Still, despite a few questionable choices in the attempted cinematic language, DANDELION is a film that very likely has an intended audience that will embrace the familiar journey of a troubled artist and the contemporary folk or folk-adjacent vibes that accompany this performer’s series of internal and external conflicts. It will rightfully earn its place as part of many film library collections among musical drama aficionados that the film has in mind as a target audience. 2 CATS OUT OF 5“