Don't Make Me Go: A road trip dramedy that can't find its way
John Cho and Mia Isaac in Don’t Make Me Go
“You’re not gonna like the way this story ends, but I think you’re gonna like this story.” So opens Don’t Make Me Go, a father-daughter road trip comedy that, unfortunately, lives up to its promise – during the first half.
When single father Max Park (John Cho) is diagnosed with a fatal brain tumour, he takes his teenage daughter Wally (Mia Isaac) on a cross-country drive to attend his college reunion. Directed by actress and filmmaker Hannah Marks (After Everything), the film balances trivial teenage drama with grave parental woes to offer an emotional portrait of a non-nuclear family. Now in post-production, Marks also stars in and directs the long-awaited film adaptation of John Green’s young adult novel, Turtles All the Way Down, as she further sinks her teeth into the teen drama genre.
“I have to spend this year fixing things for you while I still can” – Max
Cowboy Bebop’s John Cho delivers a sensitive, but sedate, performance alongside newcomer Mia Isaac (Rowan in the 2022 Zoey Deutch-led comedy Not Okay). Isaac charms, even as her character frustrates with her selfish recklessness and typical teenage tomfoolery. New Zealand’s Josh Thomson (How to Please a Woman) brings his usual bubbly amiability to the screen as Guy, Max’s old friend. Kaya Scodelario’s Annie manages to ground the film with little screen time, reminding us of what could be if only Max could stop the merciless sands of time.
This Is Us writer Vera Herbert’s script is packed with clichés. In the first act, she introduces us to the relationship with the overdone I’m-sleeping-over-at-my-friend’s-house excuse, only for Wally to spend the night surrounded by booze and boys at a rowdy house party. It doesn’t end there. Groundings, life-threatening driving lessons, light-hearted deals, abandoned dreams… Originality is scarce in this father-daughter comedy. The dialogue, too, can be glaringly obvious and unnatural with lengthy voice messages and arguments that include impersonal generalities such as, “What happened to you being a kid I could trust?”
Father-daughter bonding before a bump in the road
Still, the bonding California-to-New Orleans adventure – filmed in New Zealand due to pandemic restrictions – offers up some touching life lessons, including, “Not knowing when to stop is how people lose everything.” It’s the sub-plot surrounding Wally’s birth mother that truly highlights the pair’s fractured relationship as daughter attempts to reconcile with her introverted father.
As far as teen soundtracks go, this is one of the better ones. Between remixes, smooth jazz and catchy throwbacks, it’s exactly the kind of music you’d want to listen to with the wind combing through your hair as you speed down a freeway. Chicano Batman’s Itotiani – à la Outer Banks – sunlights the free teen spirit of Wally, while Iggy Pop’s The Passenger not-so-subtly encapsulates the whole movie; the adventure, Max’s inertia, Wally’s appreciation for the stars in the sky.
A shocking plot twist is something that can save the worst of films, but in the case of Don’t Make Me Go, it’s the thing that flatlines it. If you dissect the film with wide eyes, you’ll be able to catch the sharp change in direction that sends Marks’s emotional narrative into a head-on collision with its own ego. But that won’t make the blindsiding any less offensive. You can’t say they didn’t warn you.
The largely unoriginal dramedy from Hannah Marks takes too many wrong turns to ever find its way home. If character-driven adventures are your jam, steer yourself towards Don’t Make Me Go, but keep your high-beams on for the lethal roadblock ahead.
