Don't Make Me Go

source: Don't Make Me Go

Great movie until halfway through! It went woke. Why is this getting shoved down our throat with everything. You'll know what I mean when it happens. The acting is awesome if you can get past all the wokeness.

Don't get me wrong, I have no issues with nudity or sex in movies. It's much better than the violence we see in most movies. But it's preventing me from recommending it to a young person that I think would really appreciate it. I watched mostiy because of John Cho and I'm glad I did.

As "Don't Make Me Go" (2022 release; 109 min.) opens, we are in "California" and are introduced to Max Park, a single dad, and Wally, his 16 yo daughter. Max gets bad news: he is diagnosed with a fatal bone tumor. When his 20 year college reunion is coming up in New Orleans, where Wally's long absent mother will be, Max decides to take Wally on a good ol' fashioned road trip. Wally, who doesn't know about the tumor, reluctantly agrees... Couple of comments: this is the latest film from actress-turned-director Hannah Marks ("Mark, Mary + Some Other People"), who is still not even 30 yo. Here she brings a road movie of a father struggling to connect with his 16 yo daughter, and in a race against time to right the relationship before it's too late. In and of itself, this could make for an interesting relationship drama, but alas, the script turns out to be quite weak and, worse, riddled with cliches. As a result, I failed to connect emotionally with either of the two lead characters. John Cho (as Max) and Mia Isaac (as Wally) do the best they can but it's simply not enough. Please note that the vast majority of the movie was filmed in New Zealand (Auckland, Christchurch), and indeed the exteriors are quite easy on the eye. But alas, it can't save the movie. "Don't Make Me Go" premiered on Amazon Prime this past Friday. I had read some good things about this film, and hence was looking forward to this. Let's just say that I was quite disappointed (even though i did stick it out to the end). Of course don't take my words for it, so if you are in the mood for a rad movie featuring a father-daughter relationship 'drama', I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

Exploitative weepy with a weak script and direction. Acting is good. And what is it with the cringe-worthy efforts to show full frontal male nudity while trying to avoid full frontal female nudity, e.g. The scene at the * beach with elderly couple - him fully naked, her with pants on. It seems that this is the go to exploitative scene for some female writers and directors when you have a dearth of talent on the writing and directing front.

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source: Don't Make Me Go

Some watch movies for the pleasure of escape choosing to remain on the surface and enjoy the splash of waves, sunlit breeze on their face, and easy access to the open seas of imagination; others must occasionally descend to the depths of the ocean floor like whales to see the man behind the myth and the means behind the magic. Don't Let Me Go, delivers on both accounts. It's precision film-making for those at both ends of the spectrum. It's authors understand well just how much human psychology is primed by strong emotion. Only after considerable effort might we begin to see hidden intent. That being said, there is an unmistakable BAD BLOOD element in this story, particularly surrounding our narrator, Wally (Wallis) Park of sixteen years (who at the very beginning tells us that we are not going to like the ending of the story.) She is cute, funny, intelligent, daring, overbearing at times, but like most of us at that age in need of constant approval and acceptance. She is of mixed heritage with a father (John Cho) who absolutely adores her. Nevertheless when you tally up all of her interactions in the film with the exception of her father, however amicable they turn out, they all come down on the side of rejection in some shape, way, or form: for example, the white males she pursues don't necessarily shun her outright but either string her along or declare for someone else; Terms like 'crack-addict' come up in reference to her mother, who ultimately knows nothing of marital fidelity and is still struggling according to her own words; the only black male she comes across is in an openly gay relationship. And this isn't even the worst of it. There are so many more. Yet all of these illustrations enumerate classic anti-blackness of a sort, if only thinly veiled. By the end of the film, certain conclusions will give way to the belief that nature supersedes nurture -getting back to that bad blood aspect I mentioned earlier. My only question at this point is to whom might this film be marketed? Adolescent black females of mixed heritage? Maybe, though I doubt it. Chances are even if they watch, most will remain on the surface. It is more likely to the young adult population of Asian males who despite their excellent financial status and good job prospects encounter serious obstacles to marriageability -even among the females in their own ethnic group according to at least a handful of academic papers I can cite. On such occasions, a good portion of them might begin to consider black females of mixed heritage as viable alternatives. This film, like a few others, seeks to disabuse them of that notion.

Ugh i was not prepared to cry the way I did for this film, it had its ups and downs and the entire time I was getting so much anxiety, but it ended with a deep meaning; to try your best even if its a small 20% chance of success!!! Overall great flick.

Teary movie that really throws a curve ball. Great road trip between daughter and father... except for the final drive...still waiting for him to see the meteor shower...and the frontal nudity...what's the big deal.?