It was an Audience Award nominee at the South by Southwest Film Festival back in March.
This Friday, the IFC indie music drama “Dandelion” opens in select theaters in the D.C. area.
The film follows a struggling singer/songwriter named Theresa (a.k.a. Dandelion), who leaves Cincinnati to play a music gig at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota. There, she falls in love with a charming musician named Casey (Thomas Doherty), writing songs together in the hopes of finding romantic and creative fulfillment.
We’ve known that KiKi Layne could sing since “If Beale Street Could Talk” (2018), Barry Jenkins’ follow-up to his Best Picture masterpiece “Moonlight” (2016). However, when Dandelion bursts into song to Gin Blossoms’ “Hey Jealousy” in the opening scene, you’ll say, “I didn’t know KiKi could sing like that!”
Layne also creates romantic sparks with Doherty (“Gossip Girl”), writing lyrics on each other’s arms and walking through a field with their hands tenderly touching, and conflict with Melanie Nicholls-King (“The Wire”), who plays her ailing mother sitting around watching soap operas all day ready to argue with her starving-artist daughter.
“I sing every day,” Dandelion defiantly says. “It doesn’t matter if it’s at a hotel or if it’s at a bar, I’m singing!”
“There’s nothing cute about a 40-something Cincinnati troubadour,” her mom says. “Why not enjoy your life?”
“I’m never going to enjoy life because I am wasting it away taking care of you,” she replies.
It’s one of the more powerful dialogue exchanges in a script by writer/director Nicole Riegel (“Holler”), but other lines feel forced (I doubt anyone would actually say, “Unless insurance is gonna cover the gig economy”). No matter, this is a film that leans less on its screenplay and more on its impressive music sequences, composed by Bryce and Aaron Dessner of the band The National (their best rhymes come in “The Ghost of Cincinnati”).
With framing and sound design, Riegel smartly shows Dandelion’s frustration on the hotel-bar stage, hearing people talking and laughing in the background, paving the way for a callback comeuppance later. The evolution recalls Diane Keaton in “Annie Hall” (1977), singing “It Had to Be You” with dishes crashing, phones ringing and the camera obscured by a pillar, compared to her polished performance of “Seems Like Old Times” later in the film.
Working with cinematographer Lauren Guiteras, Riegel puts together beautiful compositions in extreme wideshots of the massive natural beauty of the Badlands, making Dandelion look like a tiny speck. They also deliver a wonderful montage of images around the city of Cincinnati, several montages driving cross country with her car silhouetted against landscapes, even rapid-fire memories flashing in her head as she strums faster and faster to forget them.
Again, the visuals are more inventive than the plot, but you could say the same about Dennis Hopper’s “Easy Rider” (1969). This is a similar meditation of freedom, love and creativity out on the road. It won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s worth checking out if you enjoyed John Carney’s “Once” (2007) and Chloé Zhao’s “Nomadland” (2020). In the end, it’s a flowery film that celebrates artistry: “Chasing dreams is hard. … It’s hard to quit, too.”
“Dandelion” is now playing in D.C. (Regal Gallery Place Stadium 14), Maryland (AMC Rio Cinemas 18 in Gaithersburg, Regal Majestic 20 in Silver Spring, Regal Royale 14 in Hyattsville, Regal Valley Mall 16 in Hagerstown) and Virginia (AMC Hoffman 22 in Alexandria, Regal Fredericksburg 15, Regal Manassas 14 and AMC Potomac Mills 18 in Woodbridge).
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