Reviews

I can't believe how positive most of the comments on this board are about this film. This is honestly one of the worst police procedurals I have ever seen...ever.

Nothing is well thought out, and there is very little payoff or follow-through. The police are totally inept, and very rarely believable. As well, they all spout out the most tired, boring cop cliches stolen from every episode of "Law & Order" and "NYPD Blue." As for the element of the Alaskan tracker who hunts down the serial killer, this would only work if the killer confined him (or her) self to a small area of forest, which thankfully he (or she) does.

Finally, the solution to the mystery (which I won't reveal, in case someone is foolish enough to rent this steaming pile) rests upon the silliest premise imaginable for a serial killer film. Seriously. It's that bad. I want to blow it for you, to tell you all how stupid it is, but I won't, because I hate spoilers. You've been warned...

I watched this film knowing nothing about the case, or Major Armstrong before, and found it engaging, and very well acted - but still a bit cold and distant.

The story follows Major Armstrong, a lawyer with a shrewish wife who plots to murder her and a business rival with arsenic. Michael Kitchen does excellent work as Armstrong, playing him as extremely conniving, but also horribly pathetic and weak. David Thewlis does a great turn as well as terminally shy fellow lawyer Oswald Martin, whom Armstrong attempts to murder because of a real estate deal gone south.

These performances are worth watching "Dandelion Dead" alone, as well as the interesting true-life story, but director Hodges fails to really delve into the psychological thriller aspects of the material, which seem so apparent, so the whole experience fails to really connect with the viewer emotionally.