I really can't understand why people keep making films that have basically been done before. Here's a common formula these days: Precocious loner teenager who doesn't fit in, hangs out with the wrong crowd, has a dysfunctional family, yet has a unique, intelligent and thoughtful nature that sets him apart from others. His eccentricities cause clashes with others. He generally meets a girl who likes him because he's different. Throw in a few tragic events and some bizarre twists and you've got yourself a quirky young art drama. Dandelion is textbook.
About a half an hour into the film I realized how really similar it was to another film of this type, Donnie Darko, and this opinion was only strengthened as the film went on. I'm not saying that this kind of cookie-cutter quality is enough to entirely ruin a film all by itself, but Dandelion's problem is that it has little to make it interesting. At least Donnie Darko had a bizarre science fiction plot and occasionally good humor. Dandelion is for the most part unremarkable. The writing is almost pure cornball- characters wax about love and life in short, uninteresting conversations. The plot has its unique twist, but decides to give it little attention and move on to the boring heartwarming business at hand. The kid is pretty good. The girl is awful. The performances given by the parents are by far the best parts of them film, in particular the stressful father with regrets, the only character in the film with much ambiguity about him.
By far the best aspect of the film is its cinematography. Tim Orr, who you may also know from his work on the similarly rural (the unsimilarly fantastic) films of David Gordan Green, is good at shooting grass, air, and water and making it look great, though the nature shots appear too often for my tastes, seemingly between every scene.
And I swear I heard almost nothing in the film that I hadn't heard before. At one point early on, on his first real meeting with the love interest, the main character says "I think love is something people make up to make themselves feel better." This is just about the most poignant or deep thing the kid, or any character, can think to say. If you think this observation is the pinnacle of brilliance, you'll probably love the film. It will also help if you really really like to watch wheat fields blow in the wind.
Want a good 'troubled precocious loner' movie? Watch The Adventures of Sebastian Cole.
About a half an hour into the film I realized how really similar it was to another film of this type, Donnie Darko, and this opinion was only strengthened as the film went on. I'm not saying that this kind of cookie-cutter quality is enough to entirely ruin a film all by itself, but Dandelion's problem is that it has little to make it interesting. At least Donnie Darko had a bizarre science fiction plot and occasionally good humor. Dandelion is for the most part unremarkable. The writing is almost pure cornball- characters wax about love and life in short, uninteresting conversations. The plot has its unique twist, but decides to give it little attention and move on to the boring heartwarming business at hand. The kid is pretty good. The girl is awful. The performances given by the parents are by far the best parts of them film, in particular the stressful father with regrets, the only character in the film with much ambiguity about him.
By far the best aspect of the film is its cinematography. Tim Orr, who you may also know from his work on the similarly rural (the unsimilarly fantastic) films of David Gordan Green, is good at shooting grass, air, and water and making it look great, though the nature shots appear too often for my tastes, seemingly between every scene.
And I swear I heard almost nothing in the film that I hadn't heard before. At one point early on, on his first real meeting with the love interest, the main character says "I think love is something people make up to make themselves feel better." This is just about the most poignant or deep thing the kid, or any character, can think to say. If you think this observation is the pinnacle of brilliance, you'll probably love the film. It will also help if you really really like to watch wheat fields blow in the wind.
Want a good 'troubled precocious loner' movie? Watch The Adventures of Sebastian Cole.