One-location films aren’t anything new in Hollywood. In fact, movies set in a vehicle, Locke, aren’t anything new either. That’s the premise of Daddio. A cab at Laguardia Airport in New York City picks up a young woman and takes her home to her brownstone in Manhattan.  Along the way, they get to learn more about one another and who they truly are as people.

Dakota Johnson plays an unnamed woman who works at an IT company as a programmer. When she gets back from visiting her sister in Oklahoma, where she grew up, she gets a ride from a yellow cab. Driven by a grizzled older gentleman named Clark (Sean Penn) from Hell’s Kitchen. She’s his last fare of the night and asks to be taken to 44th/9th in midtown. He is a bit opinionated and has a strong sense of who he is and where he’s been in life. He starts to pry into her background and who she is as a human being. Along the way, they get to know each other and have a lot to say about who they are in their personal lives.

Between the discussions about their personal lives, the woman texts back and forth with a mysterious person only named by his initial L. He seems to be a family man and has a good life, but for some reason, he wants to be with this beautiful blonde woman in the back of a cab. She seems to be trying to keep this secret relationship with the mysterious man quiet, but the world-weary and experienced cabby figures out what the situation is.

One thing about this woman and her job as an IT programmer becomes a huge plot point in the film. She discusses ones and zeros that are equal to true and false in society. This discussion proves to be very valuable in the context of the story and the conversation between the two people in the yellow cab. They have deep thoughts about life and how numbers are connected to it in more ways than we know. It’s the foundation for which we live and operate. This philosophy is an important thread in this film. It’s something we all should think about going forward in our lives.

Christy Hall is the writer/director of this movie. She infuses it with a lot of philosophical ideas about relationships and who we are as a society. The story says a lot about women and the decisions they have to make in their lives. Sometimes they aren’t good decisions, but they end up being the right ones in the end. In a world where women have more and more control of their surroundings, they have a tough time deciding what’s right for their bodies and those they love. It’s not as simple as it sounds.

Sean Penn recently played an experienced EMT in Asphalt City and now he’s playing an experienced cab driver. These two characters seem a little too similar to each other. He likes to give advice despite making a few mistakes in his own past which he regrets. Penn has had his day in the sun winning Oscars for Mystic River and Milk for respectably. He decided he was just going to take roles working and supporting younger actors like Tye Sheridan and Dakota Johnson. This may be the right path for him going forward. As a fan of his, I think this may be the best bath for him.

Daddio is a film at first glance that doesn’t seem like much. It’s just a girl getting a cab ride, from an experienced and world-weary guy. His ability to poke and prod allows him to get her to come out of her shell and reveal some of what’s going on in her personal life. This is the crux of the story. When she starts to tell him more and more about herself and her life the film gets interesting. Even though it’s set in one location. Hall lets the audience in on just enough to make up our minds on who these people are. It is not an easy movie to watch, but if you care about the woman’s story then it’s worth the time it took to watch it.

3 stars

Dan Skip Allen