Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Dandelion

Play trailer Poster for Dandelion 2004 1h 33m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
62% Tomatometer 13 Reviews 75% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
A sullen teen (Vincent Kartheiser) forges a special bond with a girl (Taryn Manning) who just moved to town with her mother.

Critics Reviews

View All (13) Critics Reviews
Kyle Smith New York Post Life is sad! Rated: 1.5/4 Oct 7, 2005 Full Review Elizabeth Weitzman New York Daily News Like its troubled protagonists, Mark Milgard's ultrasensitive ode to adolescent angst is equal parts earnest and awkward. Rated: 2/4 Oct 7, 2005 Full Review Stephen Holden New York Times The desolate Western landscape through which the characters in Mark Milgard's promising debut wander in an introspective daze, defines their emotional life. Rated: 3.5/5 Oct 6, 2005 Full Review Film Threat Rated: 4/5 Dec 6, 2005 Full Review Lexi Feinberg CinemaBlend It's the type of film where people don't speak much, and when they do, you'll wish they would just shut up. Rated: 1.5/5 Oct 28, 2005 Full Review Shirley Sealy Film Journal International Dandelion is Mark Milgard's directorial debut, and it is a worthy one. Oct 22, 2005 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (125) audience reviews
Audience Member Lovely scenery (set in - and celebrating the beauty of the midwest), and a few touching moments here and there, but left a fair bit to be desired. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 02/21/23 Full Review Audience Member A beautifully shot small town character piece that explores the questions of love and life. It's a very dark internal piece that doesn't provide any answers. And yet I liked how it played with the lives of everyone involved. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review Audience Member beautiful and poetic, but depressing as hell. Lovely performances. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/26/23 Full Review Audience Member I almost had depression after watching this movie. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/11/23 Full Review Audience Member A "slight" indie film that caches you by surprise with its raw, emotional performances and insightful character connections. Stars Vincent Kartheiser (best known as Pete from Madmen) and Mare Winningham. Depressing but well worth the bummer. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 02/19/23 Full Review Audience Member A suicidal adolescent, who has taken the fall for his father's accidental vehicular homicide, falls for a troubled young woman. When I read other critics' reviews and see the word "uneven," I often don't know what that means, but Dandelion is my new representative example of an uneven film. The early moments of the film point to some dark pain affecting Mason, the main character, and though we're never given the specifics of what ails him, I trusted that the film would reveal the backstory in due time. It didn't. Instead, the plot takes a right turn after Mason's father accidentally kills a bystander with his car and Mason is accused of the crime. After his prison sentence, Mason's life seems much better, and he is about as well-adjusted as any suburban teenager could hope to be. He even takes on the troubles and joys of Danny, a beautiful girl in the neighborhood, who, like all beautiful heroines in movies of this ilk, seems to find sadness attractive (this is a pet peeve of mine: beautiful women in the real world don't waste their time on sad men). The plot continues with Mason encountering threats from Danny's ex-boyfriend, forgiving his father, and working through Danny's insecurities -- doing all this as though the dreams of suicide and escape from the first act never happened. It's lazy character construction and not very compelling drama. How different the film could have been if it started a half hour later. Vincent Kartheiser is fine as Mason, and Arliss Howard is pretty good as Mason's dad, but I don't think the best performances could rescue the script. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 02/26/23 Full Review Read all reviews
Dandelion

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW

Cast & Crew

Food of Love 48% 38% Food of Love Watchlist 15: The Movie 50% 78% 15: The Movie Watchlist Federal Hill 82% 70% Federal Hill Watchlist Angel 83% 11% Angel Watchlist Spin 43% 69% Spin Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis A sullen teen (Vincent Kartheiser) forges a special bond with a girl (Taryn Manning) who just moved to town with her mother.
Director
Mark Milgard
Producer
Molly M. Mayeux
Screenwriter
Mark Milgard, Richard Murphy, Williamson C. Robbie
Production Co
Trimark, Ballistic Media Group, Ruth Pictures LLC
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (DVD)
Apr 18, 2006
Runtime
1h 33m