Rotten Tomatoes

Movies / TV

    Celebrity

      No Results Found

       View All       Movies Tv shows Shop News Showtimes

      Dandelion

      2004 1h 33m Drama List
      62% 13 Reviews Tomatometer 75% 2,500+ Ratings Audience Score A sullen teen (Vincent Kartheiser) forges a special bond with a girl (Taryn Manning) who just moved to town with her mother. Read More Read Less

      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 Post a rating

      Cast & Crew

      Show Less Cast & Crew Show More Cast & Crew

      More Like This

      View All Best Movies to Stream at Home
      46% 38% Food of Love 50% 78% 15: The Movie 82% 70% Federal Hill 83% 11% Angel 43% 69% Spin Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

      Photos

      View All Dandelion photos

      Dandelion

      View more photos

      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

      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
      Screenwriter
      Mark Milgard, Richard Murphy, Williamson C. Robbie
      Production Co
      Trimark
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (DVD)
      Apr 18, 2006
      Runtime
      1h 33m