As "Dandelion" opens, Theresa (KiKi Layne) — who goes by Dandelion — is stringing her guitar. She's headed to her job at a Cincinnati hotel, where she performs cover songs a few nights a week. Dandelion is a beautiful singer who croons her own rendition and interpretation of established tunes, but her eyes convey she wants so much more.
In the opening scene alone, Layne tells the audience so much about Dandelion as her glassy gaze moves over a small group of people having dinner and not paying attention to her performance. She knows her talent belongs on a larger stage, but wanting to be a singer-songwriter professionally requires jobs that feel unfulfilling in the meantime. When a manager approaches Dandelion after a song to ask her to make an announcement about a parked BMW, her heart shatters onscreen.
Layne is the pulse of an otherwise flatlining movie. "Dandelion" swims in familiar waters, but the screenplay fails to match Layne's talent. It feels like the blueprint of a movie about artists trying to make it; the framework is there but writer-director Nicole Riegel (who directed the 2020 film "Holler" and premiered this film at SXSW in March) doesn't flesh out the story into anything truly compelling.
If only the screenplay could match Layne's depth as a performer. As demonstrated in 2018's "If Beale Street Could Talk," Layne possesses the ability to convey a character's emotions through a simple glance or reaction. She lets us know Dandelion feels trapped in her own existence, between playing music for people half-paying attention through bites of food and dinner conversation or going home to take care of her mother, who is sick.
Dandelion next plays at a music festival, which doesn't exactly go her way, and meets Casey (Thomas Doherty), who loves playing music but has left his greater ambitions behind him. Dandelion and Casey begin a half-formed romance, bonded together over their passion for music. While their chemistry doesn't leap off the screen, it's clear why the two of them would be drawn to one another.
Overall, it's easy to be swept away by "Dandelion." Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National wrote the original music and score. Cinematographer Lauren Guiteras's golden photography gives "Dandelion" a warm, dream-like quality. But in the gorgeous aesthetic, the screenplay missteps — including the final act, which feels incomplete at best — too glaringly for "Dandelion" to work as a whole, even when it works in parts.
"Dandelion" opens at The Little Theatre Friday, July 26. More info and tickets here.
Matt Passantino is a contributor to CITY. 
In the opening scene alone, Layne tells the audience so much about Dandelion as her glassy gaze moves over a small group of people having dinner and not paying attention to her performance. She knows her talent belongs on a larger stage, but wanting to be a singer-songwriter professionally requires jobs that feel unfulfilling in the meantime. When a manager approaches Dandelion after a song to ask her to make an announcement about a parked BMW, her heart shatters onscreen.
Layne is the pulse of an otherwise flatlining movie. "Dandelion" swims in familiar waters, but the screenplay fails to match Layne's talent. It feels like the blueprint of a movie about artists trying to make it; the framework is there but writer-director Nicole Riegel (who directed the 2020 film "Holler" and premiered this film at SXSW in March) doesn't flesh out the story into anything truly compelling.
If only the screenplay could match Layne's depth as a performer. As demonstrated in 2018's "If Beale Street Could Talk," Layne possesses the ability to convey a character's emotions through a simple glance or reaction. She lets us know Dandelion feels trapped in her own existence, between playing music for people half-paying attention through bites of food and dinner conversation or going home to take care of her mother, who is sick.
Dandelion next plays at a music festival, which doesn't exactly go her way, and meets Casey (Thomas Doherty), who loves playing music but has left his greater ambitions behind him. Dandelion and Casey begin a half-formed romance, bonded together over their passion for music. While their chemistry doesn't leap off the screen, it's clear why the two of them would be drawn to one another.
Overall, it's easy to be swept away by "Dandelion." Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National wrote the original music and score. Cinematographer Lauren Guiteras's golden photography gives "Dandelion" a warm, dream-like quality. But in the gorgeous aesthetic, the screenplay missteps — including the final act, which feels incomplete at best — too glaringly for "Dandelion" to work as a whole, even when it works in parts.
"Dandelion" opens at The Little Theatre Friday, July 26. More info and tickets here.
Matt Passantino is a contributor to CITY.
