THE PREMISE:

"A woman taking a cab ride from JFK engages in a conversation with the taxi driver about the important relationships in their lives." 

OUR MOVIE REVIEW:

We can all relate to having to deal with an overly chatty Uber driver. It can range from pleasant to awkward and usually lands somewhere in between. Unfortunately for Daddio, having a relatable premise doesn’t necessarily make for an entertaining story.

A cab driver, played by Sean Penn, picks up a woman from JFK airport and promptly starts small talk that escalates into increasingly curious, personal questions. The passenger, Dakota Johnson, just carelessly keeps answering questions that I assure you, she doesn’t need to answer.

Clark, our cab driver, starts going on Boomer rants about today’s youth and technology and provides plenty of unsolicited advice. He really thinks he’s giving her the hard truth, and she’s buying it for the most part. But the actual truth is that Daddio is one long, weird, exhausting conversation to watch.

In a time where it can be hard to make real connections with people out in the wild, I can see where this concept probably seemed a lot more hopeful on paper. The execution though, left me with a drained social battery when I wasn’t even the one who had to endure it. 

The only saving grace for this film is the performances from both Johnson and Penn. I don’t think you could have pulled this off with unseasoned actors. My curiosity for their on screen chemistry is what drew me in to begin with, but unfortunately you can’t always act your way out of bad dialogue. 

The script is lifeless, the emotional beats fall flat, and the pacing is so glacier that by the time they share their “heartfelt” goodbye, Daddio was feeling more like a great grand-daddio.