‘Dandelion’: It’s Not Cute Being a 40-year Old Troubadour

Dandelion (KiKi Layne), in "Dandelion." (IFC Films)

R | 1h 53m | Drama, Romance | July 12, 2024

“There’s nothing cute about being a 40-year-old troubadour.”

This nugget of painful common sense arrives compliments of Theresa’s mom. Theresa, aka Dandelion, (KiKi Layne) takes care of her sick mother (Melanie Nicholls-King), while attempting to pay the bills as a 30-something singer-songwriter.

Dandelion (KiKi Layne), in "Dandelion." (IFC Films)

Dandelion’s hit a brick wall, sold her precious Gold Top Gibson Les Paul guitar to help defray her mother’s medical costs and can’t stomach another minute of her regular gig at a Cincinnati hotel venue. Cincinnati is not Austin, Texas, and her acoustic version of the Gin Blossoms’ “Hey Jealousy” is pearls before swine to the hotel customers, who treat her as the subliminal soundtrack to their noisy conversations and doom-scrolling.

Warning: For most American poets, painters, actors, dancers, or you-name-it type of artist, watching “Dandelion” is unfortunately not really going to function as entertainment. It’ll be more of a mild-depression-inducing stroll down the memory lane of the worst decade or so of your creative life.

Dandelion (KiKi Layne), in Nicole Riegel's "Dandelion." (IFC Films)

You Know the Trope

Becoming a successful artist of any kind, especially in America, is one of the most anxiety-fraught career choices one can possibly make. The competition is ferocious, intimidating, and humiliating.

I’m reminded of an article I read years ago by a guy with a lucrative job, who’d recently taken up the guitar. He felt he had talent, and was contemplating a career change. One day, a crew of four high-rise window-washers were outside his apartment, scrubbing his windows. It was 90 degrees out and he invited them inside on a whim for some iced tea.

One of them saw his new guitar in the corner, and said, “Do you mind if I—?” The tea-host figured he’d hear painful twanging. The window-guy proceeded to let loose with one of the most brilliant, eye-popping, guitar-god solos tea-man had ever heard in his life. “Nice guitar” said the window-washer, and passed it on to window-guy number-2. Who proceeded to do the exact same thing—a jaw-dropping, soaring solo. Same with the third window-washer. And the fourth. Professional-level, mega-talented guitar players all.

The tea-man said, “Why aren’t you guys in a band??” The first window-washer shrugged and said, “Too many talented guitar players in New York.” The tea host sold the guitar the next day.

Dandelion (KiKi Layne), in "Dandelion." (IFC Films)

So there’s that. Dandelion talks about needing a lucky break. But as the late, great comedic actor Walter Matthau described it, “You need 50 lucky breaks.” You need to be a people-person to drum up and maintain the connections needed to be discovered, and most artists are not exactly people people. Then there’s packaging, branding, and being in sync with the zeitgeist enough to get the money-and-access people interested. “Blown Sideways Through Life” is a play about artists spending most of their lives trying to find a day-job they can live with (without contemplating suicide) while they pursue their art.

Most of the musicians Dandelion came up with are now opening for successful bands, have signed with labels, and are making the big bucks.

Sturgis

Despite that crippling remark from her mother, Dandelion makes a last-ditch attempt; she drives to South Dakota to a motorcycle rally (“Sturgis” signage is nowhere to be seen, but what else would it be?). She’s got one last musical ace up her sleeve and might be able to get some valuable exposure.

Crashing an empty stage that’s waiting for the next band to arrive, with bikers in various states of inebriation milling about, Dandelion grabs the mic unannounced. She delivers a highly-heckled performance, during which her guitar case is stolen. Then her car won’t start.

But! Her case is rescued and returned to her by one Triumph motorcycle-riding, bearded, honey-voiced Scotsman named Casey (Thomas Doherty), who liltingly invites her to hang out with his former bandmates. Casey successfully led the band for a while but disappeared. This will be the romance portion of the film.

Promotional poster for "Dandelion." (IFC Films)

It’s the best part. Naturally, it turns out that the brooding Casey and Dandelion have outrageous music-making chemistry together. It’s easy to intuit during these creative-high scenes, how life must have been for a top-shelf talented, romantic, musical couple like Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, where the chemistry of their vocal harmonies (much like the Beatles) produced something ethereal and more than the sum of its parts.

The other reason this is the best part of the movie is that we’re treated, from Dandelion’s vantage point on the back of the Casey’s Triumph, to the twisties (winding roads) of the rugged and beautiful South Dakota Black Hills and Badlands.

The Problem Is

Promotional poster for "Dandelion." (IFC Films)

Casey has mentioned that he’s married but separated. It’s easy to see why Dandelion’s ignoring the red flags: This guy is a classic, sensitive, charming-but-not-overconfident, motorcycle musician bad boy, who’s keenly interested in Dandelion, and who needs a bit of mothering. Too irresistible.

“Dandelion” is very similar to “Once,” where the focus isn’t on the finished musical product, but on the magic, the in-the-moment connection, electricity, and wonder of the music-making process and performances. Doherty and Layne have serious musical chops, with something approaching the magic of a Buckingham-Nicks harmonization. It’d be nice to hear them put an album out together. It’s nice that this level of chemistry cropped up in a movie without a musical spin-off agenda behind it.

Unlike the eternal showbiz and music-biz selling of the fame pipe-dream (Anybody can be in a band! Such-and-such movie star was discovered on a street corner!), “Dandelion” doesn’t glamorize the artist lifestyle or have a unrealistically happy ending. It’s a grounded and compelling portrayal, with some great performances and music along the way.

“Dandelion” began streaming on Amazon Prime Video on Aug. 8.

Promotional poster for "Dandelion." (IFC Films)

‘Dandelion’ Director: Nicole Riegel Starring: Kiki Layne, Thomas Doherty, Melanie Nicholls-King MPAA Rating: R Running Time: 1 hour, 53 minutes Release Date: July 12, 2024 Rating: 3 1/2 stars out of 5

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