Review of Dandelion (2004) by Jim H — 22 May 2012

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.