MOVIES AT LA PLAZA: DADDIO— The cab, between a confessional and a psychologist's office

Movie Review by Sergio Martinez

Making a film whose story takes place in real-time is a challenge, even more so if the entire plot takes place in the claustrophobic space of a cab. It's a challenge that director Christy Hall manages to overcome successfully: Daddio manages to keep the viewer's attention throughout the 100 minutes it takes for cab driver Clark (Sean Penn) to take the young woman we only know as Girlie (Dakota Johnson) from JFK airport to her home in Manhattan. That's exactly the time from the time the young woman leaves the airport and the attendant at the cab stand (Marcos A. Gonzalez) asks her for the destination of the ride, opens the door, the woman gets in, and the cab departs until the cabbie and passenger say goodbye.

"Girlie" (Dakota Johnson) takes
an exceptional taxi ride 

Certainly, the ride from the airport to Manhattan would not last that long, for the director makes a little "cheat": shortly before taking the I-495 highway an accident caused a traffic jam on the route, this will take enough minutes to cover the time of the story, but at the same time to raise the dramatic tension in the interaction of driver and passenger.

Even with all these dramatic elements, the scenes could have become tedious after a certain time, but here we find the brilliant hand of cinematographer Phedon Papamichael, who, while the exchange takes place inside the car, intersperses images of the urban environment: lights, commercial signs, road traffic signs, mundane and everyday objects that anyone travelling in a cab will probably not notice, but that in the film contribute to creating the background of loneliness that both protagonists share while the trip lasts.

Clark (Sean Penn): a cab driver but at times
a confessor and a psychologist

Shortly after getting into the cab, Girlie receives messages on her cell phone, mostly requests from her boyfriend, most of them expressed in foul language with references to sex. Gradually the dialogue between the woman and Clark transcends the tone of the typical cab conversation. She breaks the ice when she asks him for his name, which he later remembers specially.

The woman continues to receive messages from her lover, always in a vulgar tone, until a moment comes when he stops sending them. Girlie will reveal to Clark the nature of the relationship with her lover, at which point the tone of the conversation becomes more personal. Clark for his part, also has a lot to say, both personally, and in what, now taking on an almost paternal role, he conveys to Girlie.

The ride's end

During the moments when the conversation had become less formal, she had asked Clark about what name he would have liked to have had. The cab driver's response will later serve as a closure to the encounter where there were difficult questions, upsetting memories they both relived and many questions still open, especially for Girlie.

Daddio is a brilliant film of impeccable realization. The challenges to developing the story the director turns into one more dramatic element of the search that both protagonists, beyond their differences in age and jobs, still have unfinished.

Running time: 100 min.