Weekend Watch: Don't Make Me Go
John Cho is a father trying to bond before saying goodbye...
Image Credit: Amazon Studios
Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, in which I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, a father looks to bond with his daughter. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite
John Cho is someone I always appreciate when he’s on screen. He’s put in great work in movies such as Searching, the Star Trek movies in which he plays Sulu and even his earlier days in the Harold & Kumar movies.
I’m pleased to report, then, that Don’t Make Me Go marks another outstanding Cho performance. In Hannah Marks’ film, he plays Max Park, a single father whose wife ran away with his best friend when their daughter Wally (Mia Isaac) was a baby.
Since then, Max has put his ambitions on hold – he was a gifted singer back in the day – to raise his daughter and provide the best life for her. These days, he plugs away at an insurance company while finding occasional solace and sex as the booty call of Annie (Kaya Scodelario).
Yet when Max learns that his occasional, painful headaches are a symptom of a serious bone tumour that threatens his life (and the surgery that could remove it is even riskier), he decides to take Wally on a road trip before his time is up. The trip is to ostensibly attend his 20th college reunion, but with the intent of having Wally meet her mother.
As I mentioned, Cho is fantastic, layered and sweet, funny when he needs to be, but also able to put the parental hammer down at other times. He plays well off Isaac, a teenager testing her boundaries, which Vera Herbert’s script lets her do without falling into too many cliches.
Don’t Make Me Go as a movie itself sometimes falls into standard indie movie traps, with a few moments that feel less authentic than the rest of the movie. But the vibe here is entertaining and touching, Wally’s romantic escapades with Otis Dhanji’s handsome-yet-single-minded teen jock Glenn are seemingly basic subplot that ends up tying in well with the wider themes of the movie.
One big plot moment aside, which caught me off guard, it’s occasionally predictable but not in a negative way. Key to the story are the central performances, which shine, well supported by the likes of Scodelario and, for the limited time she’s on screen, Jen Van Epps as Max’s ex, Nicole.
It's small in scale, but a worthwhile watch and Don’t Make Me Go never pretends to be something it’s not. You might not be a parent, but you were once a teen, and most people will find something relatable here.
Don’t Make Me Go is on Prime Video now.