Admittedly, a film like Daddio will not be for everyone. But, as a fan of Sean Penn and having seen Dakota Johnson succeed in the recently released Am I Ok?, this film particularly piqued my interest. Not many films can have such a narrow scope and still mightily succeed. I’m happy to say that this one did.
Daddio follows Girlie, played by Dakota Johnson. She’s just getting home from a trip to visit her sister back in her hometown in Oklahoma and ends up in the back of a cab driven by Clark (Sean Penn). Throughout the late-night cab ride home in New York City, these two strangers talk about a menagerie of topics, from sex and relationships to life and happiness and everything in between.
It’s an incredibly simple premise for a film, but that’s what makes it incredible to watch. It can be so easy to mess up a move of this caliber because it only stands on its dialogue and performances. If either of these things are bad, then the movie fails pretty handily. Luckily, Daddio does these better than most.
Sean Penn and Dakota Johnson give equally powerful performances here. Penn, playing the wise cab driver, oozes life experiences in a way that is crass and gross but wise nonetheless. Johnson, inversely, plays a much more reserved, personal character, and this contrast is what makes the movie work. Couple that with great cinematography that makes a single cab ride feel robust and interesting for its entire runtime and it’s an unmitigated success.
Daddio really reminds me of what I’d see in an alternate version of a film like Before Sunrise or Before Sunset. Each film depicts two lead characters invested in conversations about their lives and aspirations and relationships and the things each may or may not know.
But where the Before trilogy depicts the romantic meeting between strangers, Daddio shows us what happens with complete strangers that you know will never see each other again. They learn about, and take an interest in, each other’s lives with such a strong investment even though they start off not knowing a thing about each other.
Final Thoughts
Daddio really is a great film. If you especially love strong dialogue and performances, then this is certainly going to be one to watch. Every little detail blew me way. And it’s filmed in simulated real time, which makes for an interesting watch.
4.5/5
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I have been watching movies my whole life and fell in love at an early age. I was entranced by the ability for a film to whisk me away to a different universe, and that really started with the Star Wars Franchise. I’m by no means an expert and can roll with opinions that might be controversial, but my love for cinema will always remain. When I’m not watching movies, I work in Marketing Analytics with my degree from Western New England University.
See my Letterboxd: ‎asouza16’s profile • Letterboxd
MY FAVORITE MOVIES:
- Good Will Hunting
- Star Wars: A New Hope (or the whole saga)
- Chef
- Tick, Tick, Boom
- The Perks of being a Wallflower