DADDIO is a brave undertaking for a debut. The film is shot in quasi real time, during a 100 minute cab ride from JFK Airport to downtown New York. It is the last ride of the day for Clark (Sean Penn) and his passenger (Dakota Johnson) also gives off the impression that she has had a tough journey behind her. After a period of silence, Clark begins with a tirade about the "fucking apps," by which he means the competition from Uber, the tips that used to be bigger, and the cell phones that his customers stare into. But she doesn't do that - "you are a human." - a good transition to carefully questioning his passenger and at the same time showing off his knowledge of human nature, which Clark is quite proud of.

Sean Penn plays Clark as a proletarian native New Yorker, well-versed, witty and occasionally bold, a shrewd conversationalist, oscillating between self-awareness and arrogance. Dakota Johnson reacts to the offer of a conversation with reserve but not with anger. But the drive is long, these are harmless questions, and her boyfriend’s sexting is annoying (Clark notices her furrowed brow in the rearview mirror). So she answers, a dialogue develops, then comes to a halt again. Director Christina Hall, her two stars, and veteran cinematographer Phedon Papamichael elegantly orchestrate a conversation that meanders between closeness and distance. Sometimes one of them reveals something, then Johnson fends off an intrusive question. But little by little, like in a therapy session that moves beyond supposed side issues to the root of the matter, the things that really move the two of them come to the fore.

Hendrike Bake

Translation: Elinor Lewy