Dandelion

"Dandelion" is a hauntingly beautiful contemporary spin on "Splendor in the Grass," with pervasive forebodings of how the endless horizons of the American Western prairie can lead to claustrophobic traps.

Debut director/co-writer Mark Milgard masterfully makes the long hot summer of the lovely Idaho and Washington landscapes redolent with both the magic of young love and the dread of violence in a very "Days of Heaven" fashion. The perceptive camera fills in the silent gaps of the inarticulate characters, between parents and their teens, between parents and between teens. The sins of the parents are literally visited on the children. The action is moved along not by theatrically explosive explication but by the existential choice that each character makes, even as one gently points out that his passivity at a key point was a choice. Using cinema as a storytelling technique, the director unveils these choices visually.

Key to the success of this approach is Vincent Kartheiser. We certainly had no trouble thinking he was from another dimension in TV's "Angel," and here his emotive face and saucer eyes are Garbo-like to the camera. His "Mason" almost non-verbally goes from sullen son huddling under his hair to opaque Billy Budd-like martyr to an achingly enraptured Romeo. His sudden bright smile lights up the screen and forecasts the potential for hope and love as much as his tear-filled eyes drown our hearts. Every feeling felt or shut down is reflected in that face and eyes. Kudos to Kartheiser for not choosing to be another of the WB TV Boyz -- was he in college in between?-- and instead taking an offbeat role.

No wonder Taryn Manning's "Danny" finds the scrawny sensitive kid irresistible even when a more conventionally hunky bad boy Shawn Reaves (of TV's "Tru Calling") is a rival (though the triangle plays out in an atypical fashion). She sensitively exudes toughness and vulnerability, in a different way than she did in "Hustle & Flow," as she blossoms into what "Mason" sees in her.

The parents are also atypically not inconsequential and the excellent acting by the adults ratchets up tensions (though a post traumatic stressed syndrome Viet vet uncle and a grief-stricken mime out of Springsteen's "Reason to Believe" are a bit too much). Arliss Howard well captures a nice guy who nevertheless commits terrible emotional abuse on his wife and son. Mare Winningham starts out as the usual tippling oblivious homemaker, but brings real feeling to the last part of the film, in both an explosion of frustration and of an almost pieta scene of sympathetically stroking her inconsolable son's hair. Michelle Forbes is commendably almost unrecognizable in a very atypical role for her as a troubled single mom who destroys her daughter's self-esteem. The film well shows how the adults start to perceive their kids' feelings and how that powerful life-affirmation affects them.

Even though what was obviously a minuscule budget necessitated no changes in hair styles or aging make-up etc. to back-up the interstitial "two years later," the weather beaten buildings and exquisite settings of meadows, creek, endless road and railroad tracks and big sky of bright clouds and overpowering rain are an essential component of the story, though I'm pretty sure the title image only appears once.

While co-writer Robb Williamson's score captures the ominous mood and the indie rock song selections are illustrative, especially Sparklehorse ironically singing of a "wonderful life" and Cat Power covering Lou Reed, the visuals reminded me of a country song: "You know the world must be flat/'Cos when people leave town, they never come back." (from "Small Town Saturday Night" by Alger and DeVito, popularized by Hal Ketchum).

There have been some other films lately dealing seriously with teens and parents amidst death and first love, including the suburban "Winter Solstice" and "Imaginary Heroes," but I was the most moved by "Dandelion." This is the most poignant, mature portrait of young people in rural America since "Tully" and "All the Real Girls."

My new favourite movie, "Dandelion" is a mind-blowing film from the genius first-time director and all-around fantastic person, Mark Milgard. It's a certain must-see for everyone. Keep your eye out for more of Mark's work; "Dandelion" is going to be huge when it is finally released. The movie is rich with symbolism so subtle that it manages not to slap you in the face with obvious, cheesy links between each character and/or event, all while still pulling everything together, leaving no annoying loose ends to tie up in the end. The music was written for the movie, so it compliments the movie instead of distracting from it, and the scenery (as you'll read in many more reviews) is stunning. "Dandelion" has already won awards from many of the festivals it has appeared in, and it's on its way to receive more awards all around the world.

"Dandelion" is one of those films that seems like a good idea, mostly because of other films it reminds you of. In this case, the films it brings to mind are "Donnie Darko", "American Beauty", and particularly David Gordon Green's brilliant "All the Real Girls". While director Mark Milgard, along with his two (!) other screenwriters, obviously had their hearts in the right place, the end results leave a lot to be desired.

Cinematographer Tim Orr (who works on all of David Gordon Green's films), does a typically great job at capturing beautiful, Malick-like landscapes, but Milgard blatantly lacks the poetic touch needed to find an emotionally resonant story within the picturesque environment. Instead, all he manages to come up with is an almost embarrassingly by-the-numbers coming-of-age story. The plot itself would not be such a problem if he had infused it with convincing characters or memorable dialogue, but alas he does not. The characters are wince-inducingly one-dimensional (the angry dad, the repressed alcoholic mom, the "troubled" girl next door, and of course the introverted, gloomy protagonist). I found myself all but begging the filmmakers to allow for some nuance to creep in, to allow the characters some kind of depth, but no. None of the characters are allowed to escape their stereotype for even a minute. This is particularly sad in the case of the lead Vincent Kartheiser, who did good work in Larry Clark's "Another Day in Paradise", and seemed able to deliver here too if he had been allowed to not play up to his morose stereotype of a character. Taryn Manning, on the other hand, left a lot to be desired. Although of course the filmmakers didn't help, her performance was still notably lacking.

At times the film showed promise. In it's best moments, it recalled the great classic coming-of-age film "Over the Edge", as well as David Gordon Green's work. But it is actually that last comparison which ultimately proves what a flawed film "Dandelion" truly is. Where David Gordon Green's films always seem to unfold naturally, with no forced plot, "Dandelion" was full of contrived, obvious events. The biggest problem is that Milgard seems so obviously emotionally manipulative. Whereas David Gordon Green's films hit brilliant, unforced, emotional moments, "Dandelion" seemed intent on forcing you what to feel in the most obvious, unsubtle way. This contrivance ultimately amounted to the film more closely resembling achingly self-aware trendfests like "Garden State" rather than the Green or Terrence Malick it seemed to be attempting. In this respect, the dialogue was often particularly problematic as well.

All and all, "Dandelion" is the kind of film I desperately want to root for, that I want to see succeed, yet it stubbornly insists on shooting itself in the foot at every opportunity it gets.

Wow, I just watched this movie for the first time and actually never heard of it before yesterday. I was amazed by this incredible work of art. I have seen Vincent Karthiser before in Another Day In Paradise, and was impressed with that performance, but this one is in another dimension. This is a beautiful but very sad movie, a hard thing to accomplish with this depth of emotion. All the lead actors are at the top of their game, and the last 10 minutes of the film are an emotional roller-coaster. I can't recommend this any more highly, I gave it 10 stars. I knew almost nothing about the story before I watched it, and within the first minute I was hooked. All I can say is, wow what a fantastic way to spend an hour and a half.

This movie is a tough one to watch since it is soul crushing, but the actors and director really deliver on it. I wish Mark made more stuff, I'm not even sure if he's still in the industry.