Dandelion, the new film from Writer/Director Nicole Riegel is earnest and straightforward. I just wish the audio track was better. And for a film that is based around two musicians, one struggling to rise, one who has tasted success and walked away, that's a problem.
I'm not talking about the songs. They're immensely personal and follow the journey of Dandelion (KiKi Layne), a singer/songwriter living and working in Cincinnati with her ailing mom, Jean. To pay for her mom's medical care, Dandelion takes gigs wherever she can. She's definitely got an Alicia Keyes vibe to her presence and her songs. The women she came up with are all TikTok superstars, with immense followings, and they're really no more talented than she. They just happened to have gotten the breaks that she did not. Dandelion feels invisible, even when she is performing in front of an audience.
Dandelion and Jean are continually butting heads about what Jean perceives as her daughter wasting her time, that no one wants to hear her songs. In the meantime, Dandelion was passed a flyer for a motorcycle rally in Sturgis, SD, which states they're looking for performers. She blows it off figuring that it's not her crowd and certainly not her music. But, of course, she eventually packs her guitar and her hopes into her car and hits the road.
She lands in Sturgis, definitely a fish out of water. The Sturgis rally, if you've never been, is very different from Daytona Bike Week. It's harcore bikers. and primarily all white. Dandelion grabs the first opportunity she sees to stand on a stage and it doesn't work out well for her. She doesn't have the thick skin needed in a place like Sturgis, having only been exposed to high-end patrons in tony Cincinnati bars, where the leather is limited to shoes, and not worn head-to-toe.
Before she reaches the stage she's bumped into by Casey (Thomas Doherty), who in short order, becomes her knight in shining armor, her entree into his long-time music "family" and, eventually, her musical partner and lover.
Casey has vanished from Sturgis for a few years and has been working in sales of some sort. However, he's welcomed back into the family fold with open arms and warm hearts, as well as a place to crash.
You know their whirlwind romance is doomed to fail, and you get hints of why throughout the film. But in-between, Dandelion and Casey do make some beautiful, eminently listenable music together. 
Their scenes become visually lush and languid, adding to the dreamlike trance in which Dandelion blossoms. The relationship does give Dandelion the creative gut punch she needed, pushing her to harness and direct the power of her own voice. The Director's statement refers to being influenced by the lives of indie artists like Joy Oladokum and Tracy Chapman, and this certainly comes through in the plot development.
I just wish some of the scenes didn't suffer from the aforementioned audio issue. Because, had I been able to hear some of the hushed conversations, Dandelion would have struck a stronger chord with me.
Lisa Blanck is the Associate Editor / Movie Reviewer for In Focus-Magazine.com and is a member of the Critics Association of Central Florida. Her background includes 30+ years of digital editing for NBC and CBS News affiliates. She also edits national promotional spots for Matter Of Fact, the #1 nationally syndicated news & information program. For 30+ years she has covered the Florida Film Festival & the World Peace Film Festival, and has additional award-winning experience in advertising, marketing, promotions and live special events with MTV Networks.
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