A lengthy conversation playing out in real-time between two strangers who open up to one another over the course of one taxi drive from the airport. If it feels Richard Linklater-adjacent, that’s because writer/director Christy Hall (I Am Not Okay With This) has certainly been influenced by the chatty likes of Linklater, as she sticks us in the cab for the entire duration of that 90-minute ride and movie. We have Dakota Johnson as the fare, a woman returning home after visiting family with secrets and shame that she’ll reveal over the course of this cab ride. We have Sean Penn as the cab driver, a seen-it-all cynic who keeps pushing for more answers and conversation from his passenger. The problem with movies based solely around conversations is that the conversation has to be mesmerizing, exhibiting great care to impart artful and authentic character details that make us reconsider these people, and hopefully provide challenges to preconceived norms and ingrained perspectives that can foster reflective growth. Nobody wants to watch a movie about a trivial conversation over 90 minutes. The problem with Daddio is that it’s not really a two-way conversation; Penn acts more as an interrogator, slowly chipping away at the layers that Johnson’s young woman feels comfortable presenting publicly. The dialogue is fine but unremarkable, eschewing overly stylized verbosity for something more natural, but even with that choice the details we are granted are clumsy and minimal. Get ready for lots of protracted pauses awaiting texting replies. The acting is fairly solid throughout, especially Johnson since it is a whole showcase for her in that backseat. If we’re going to be riding shotgun on a 90-minute conversation, I guess I’m just looking for far more scintillating details, whether it’s from the characters, their conflicts, or just their gregarious dialogue. If we’re stuck with two people, let’s be stuck with two people we actually might want to share a cab with.

Nate’s Grade: C+