Seems like only months ago (because it was only months ago) that Dakota Johnson’s hilariously unpredictable and deliberately awkward banter on the press tour for turned out to be far more entertaining than the film itself, which was shockingly bad — but now with the June releases of the breezy and funny (which was filmed before “Madame Web”) and the piercing two-hander “Daddio,” we’re reminded that Johnson is a stunning screen presence who is capable of truly fine work, if provided with the right material. “Daddio” has a deceptively simple premise: A young professional woman (Johnson) who never gives her name arrives at JFK airport one night and climbs into a taxi driven by the craggy-faced and talkative Clark (Sean Penn), who drives her to her home in Hell’s Kitchen. That’s it.
That’s the movie. Sean Penn driving, Dakota Johnson in the back seat, with their respective characters engaging in conversation that ranges from superficial pleasantries to light banter to an increasingly high-stakes game of emotional reveals about their lives, their triumphs, their disappointments, their heartbreaks. It’s kind of like “Collateral” without the killings, or “Locke” if Tom Hardy picked somebody up along the way.
Director-writer-producer Christy Hall initially conceived “Daddio” as a stage play, and it’s easy to envision two actors just sitting in chairs on an otherwise bare stage and executing this material. That formula could be problematic for c.