A few years back, Tom Hardy did this movie, Locke, where he just sits in his car for an hour and a half, and answers phone calls about all the things going on in his life while driving. After that brilliant film ended, I think I sat up and said, “well that couldn’t happen again.” Daddio isn’t quite the gem Locke was, but it’s in the ballpark doing the same thing, but doubling the cast. Turns out, Christy Hall just copied Stephen Knight’s really complicated playbook: write a great script, and hire incredible actors. Mind blowing!
A woman (Dakota Johnson) is at the airport, on her way home to Midtown Manhattan. She gets in the cab line, and gets assigned Clark (Sean Penn). He then drives her from JFK to her home in Manhattan, maybe delayed here and there from a car crash or traffic jams.
Yep. That’s it. Hall’s script and the two actors dominate the next 100 minutes. Let’s start with Penn. After his incredible turn in Milk, Penn’s been more of an activist than an a good actor for a while now, save a PTA film here and there. Daddio is a nice showcase for what made Penn such an engaging presence for ever and ever. I’ve been in cabs with guys like him before: first to talk, eager and willing to share his takes on the world at large. Watching him just chew gum and stare at Dakota Johnson through the rear view mirror is riveting enough, but Penn’s abrasiveness and boundary pushing also help him here do a good job believably pushing these conversations into more personal territory without forcing Johnson to just leave the cab out of creepiness. Underneath it all though, there’s a real, honest, empathetic heart here, as his ultimate goal is to just simply understand the customer he’s in charge of taking to their home.
Bringing us to Dakota Johnson. To all you “Did you watch Madame Web and 50 Shades? That girl can’t act” douche bags, I play the Daddio trump card. Johnson more than holds her own against Penn, the two time Oscar winner, every bit as interesting as he is, but in her own way. At her best, Dakota brings this flirty intrigue to her conversations, and then puts up clear walls through her speech changes when the conversation goes too far. Penn might push the conversation, but Johnson plays gatekeeper, deciding what and when she wants to tell him, even forcing him to reveal personal things he never reveals to anyone. With Penn doing most of the talking, Johnson’s reactions carry a lot of the emotional revelations of the film, giving answers without saying anything at all, like putting on lipstick a certain way, or a curious lip bite at a forward question.
I’ve had some great cab rides, but none as incredible as Daddio’s. This movie is a love letter to as Sean Penn’s Clark put it a “dying profession,” which on the best of days can be just a wonderful little momentary connection for a brief period of time. My best one? Getting in a cab playing Haddaway’s What Is Love, and bopping my head Will Ferrell style with the driver getting incredible laughs from every car we pulled up to at a spotlight. Classic.