Terrance P. Barnes 2008-02-20

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

I'm the type of person that watches movies only to look at certain actresses or actors. Taryn Manning to me is one of the most beautiful people on the planet. Raw attitude, raw acting, raw emotions, raw songbird... The girl is dynamite; I bought this movie cause it wasn't one of her scary flicks. I'm a pretty open minded individual really, so I watched the movie with an open mind. Never did I think, once again, a movie with a limited sound track would catch me so. I'm just used to finding some relativity behind music and a feature. But once the sond finally hit me upon the final sunset scene; this movie made the connection from the beginning to the end. Dandelion is a clear picture into a teenage heart break. Everyone delivers, but Taryn Manning brings it to life for me. Cloud nine from the first moment I bought it to the ending credits; this movie is worth the wait, the length and the attention. Mark Milgard knows what he is doing... Tracy Kaplan the casting director, knows what she's doing...

Barker D. Chunn, Jr. 2007-09-29

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Movie early on is study of relationships withen a somewhat dysfunctional family. The young love through a sense of forboding seems headed for some not revealed tragedy. In the end total disaster is avoided,but a sense of love lost remains. The movie does have a great feeling of tenderness and missed opportunities.

Barker D. Chunn,Jr.

Hulka 2007-05-30

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Fans of Vincent Karthieser will enjoy this movie and his portrayal of a sensitive young man dealing with a dysfunctional family in rural Idaho. But the movie doesn't rise to the dramatic quality of Kartheiser's other movies, "Crime and Punishment in Suburbia" or "The Unsaid", or his recent appearance in the TV series, "Angel".

This is probably the worst script Vincent's had to deal with since the terrible "Heaven Sent". Many of Vincent's roles border on the melodramatic, but this script goes over the top. Also, Kartheiser's co-star, Tara Manning is another mis-match for Kartheiser. The problem is not Manning, but the script. Manning is believable as the stereotypical poor white "trailer park" girl she is asked to play, it's unbelievable that a girl like that would find anything in common with the sensitive, quiet dreamer that Kartheiser plays.

Another problem is that roles like this are getting a bit repititious for Kartheiser, and this lousy script doesn't offer Kartheiser anything new to work with. I've been bewitched by Vincent Kartheiser's on-screen personae for a long time. Vincent's movies and TV roles have this re-occurring theme of sensitive loner (most suburban teenaged) boy struggling with teenage alienation and angst. Crime and Punishment in Suburbia, The Unsaid, TV series Angels...all the same thing. This script just seems to reinforce the stereotype, and poor Kartheiser can't rise above script and his performance comes off as a rip-off of earlier roles.

Another problem is that Kartheiser is getting a little "long in the tooth" to play roles like this. As Kartheiser gets older, he's losing the androgenous beauty that has fascinated viewers in the past, and we see the tell-tale facial hair that we've not seen before in his other movies. While Kartheiser still got the ability to move us with the sincerity and honesty of his portrayals of the alienated, tortured suburban teenage boy, at some point, he's got to move on to more adult roles.

Despite the defects, I felt it was still worth it to spend another 90 odd minutes with Vincent, and I think you'll feel the same!

Daniel B. Clendenin 2007-01-25

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

The case of this DVD boasts five festival awards and the promise of "redemption" for its characters, but I was left wondering why on both counts. There are at least nine suicide scenes in this film, mainly imagined, but one of which is very real. Teenager Mason grows up in a horribly dysfunctional family where dinners are characterized by a raging father (Luke), a people-pleasing, pill-popping, and alcoholic mother (Leila), and a crazy uncle (Bobby) who thinks that World War II is raging and who dies in an asylum. A tragic accident strikes that feeds on their dysfunction. Enter a young girl (Danny) whose mom is a passive-aggressive, drifter single parent. Danny enjoys drugs, alcohol, and admits that she has "a thing for things that aren't good for me." But put Danny and Mason in a lush meadow with a brilliant blue sky, undulating grass, and an idyllic pond, and what do you get? Redemption? No. On an improbable fishing trip with his son Mason, father Luke described every character in this film: "You wake up one day and nothin's the way it's supposed to be. So you try to keep goin', takin' down the people you love the most right with ya. And for some reason you can't admit that until you've already lost them."

J. COLBY 2006-10-08

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

I was fortunate to see this film at the 2003 San Francisco Independent Film Festival. It was remarked that this film slipped through the cracks of Hollywood, but would never make it to video because it was too good. For those reading this review, consider yourself fortunate. This film is beautifully profound. The reviewer who wrote that it is a knock-off of a tired genre is absolutely wrong.

Cinematically this film is a stunner. The script is unpredictable, therefore interesting. The conflict between father and son, finally resolved, is nicely tense. So is the conflict between his parents. Mason is a compelling character; after his return from detention he seems to have a Buddha-like mind. This serenity contrasts starkly with the other characters.

Not trite at all. Watch this one.