Daddio and Madame Web both releasing in 2024 is an interesting glimpse into the career and talents of Dakota Johnson. Both films are at opposite ends of the spectrum in regards to story and style, and Fanning’s performance differs drastically between the two. While Daddio is undoubtedly an example of better filmmaking than the atrocity that was Madame Web, it crumbles under the weight of its own artistic aspirations, striving to be something more intelligent than it is.
Daddio Plot
A woman (Dakota Johnson) arrives at a New York airport and takes a taxi cab to her home. What should have been a short and routine ride is prolonged due to a traffic accident that causes road blockage. The cab driver (Sean Penn) passes the time by striking up a conversation and the two find themselves discussing all sorts of important and personal aspects of life and love.
Sean Penn and Dakota Johnson are Spectacular
Daddio is a story centered entirely around a conversation between two strangers. In the vein of My Dinner With Andre or Locke, it’s a film that rests entirely on the merit of its dialogue and its lead performances. Luckily, both Penn and Johnson are fantastic. Delivering a stellar performance without moving from the seat of a car is no easy task, but Penn makes it look effortless. The Oscar-winning actor believably fills the role of a grizzled old driver who thinks he knows everything there is to know about the world.
Johnson, who brings a natural flirtation to almost every role she’s in, uses her eyes and her smile to convey more emotion and character than her words ever could. It’s a far more seductive role than you’d expect, but the performance takes us through a wave of emotions, ranging from heartache to hopeful. The chemistry between the two is strong and it’s consistently believable that they’d share the deepest parts of themselves with each other, despite having just met.
All Talk With Little To Say
For a film with this much dialogue, it ultimately has very little to say. The discussions and views of the world from these two very different people are mostly familiar and predictable. Penn, as the streetwise cabbie who says it like it is, gives a strong and realistic performance, but the character, and what he has to say, has all been seen and heard before. The cabbie, Clark, is obnoxious. It’s no fault of Penn, but throughout the movie I thought to myself how dreadful a cab ride this would be with him as my driver. He’s intrusive and cocky and incapable of letting a moment of silence extend beyond a minute or two.
The emotional bond that the driver and his passenger have formed by the end feels odd. In an age when Ubers and rideshares are so common, these experiences are typically reduced to transactional encounters. But I suppose that’s part of what Daddio is trying to say. We meet people every day, exchange small pleasantries and move on. True human connection has been lost, especially in the age of electronics.
Final Thoughts
I understand what Christy Hall is going for, and as a first-time filmmaker she showcases an immense amount of talent. Richard Linklater has mastered the art of conversational storytelling, and his Before Trilogy is arguably the gold standard. Hall clearly takes inspiration from those films, but it’s a difficult task to pull off properly. This isn’t a failure and it’s not a success. Instead, it rests somewhere in the middle with the charisma of its two leads giving it a slight edge in the right direction.
6/10
Daddio is playing in limited theaters. It is also available on digital and on demand.
Find out more details at the film’s official website.
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