Don't make me go is a road trip movie written by Vera Herbert (This is Us) and directed by Hannah Marks (After Everything). The film follows the journey of Max Park and his daughter Wally. Max has Chordoma, a rare form of brain cancer that only 1% of all people have. The doctor gives him the option of surgery which only has an 80% chance of survival. If he doesn't choose surgery, he has about a year to live. The dilemma is that he is raising his sixteen-year-old daughter Wally by himself, and now it's too late to teach her everything she needs to know about life. So instead of surgery, he decides not to tell her he is dying but instead take her to New Orleans to meet her mother. Under the guise of going to his high school reunion (and promising to teach her to drive), they get in the car and head off for emotions, turmoil, and a trip to a nude beach.
John Cho (Star Trek Beyond, The Grudge) plays Max, the dying dad. He makes this movie feel like a two-hander as his character shares his life's entire story with his daughter. Cho is a fantastic actor who handles the ups and downs of the material with grace, even when the road gets bumpy. He also pulls at the heartstrings in all appropriate, if not surprising, ways. The real surprise here is Wally (played astoundingly by Mia Isaac.) An audience might think, where has this kid been? She's emotionally in tune, funny and graceful. She has talent, and she makes her character and Max's relationship believable, if not a little bit shmaltzy.
The film won the "Truly Moving Picture Award" from Heartland Films and that is precisely what it wants to be, genuinely moving. The first three-quarters of the 100-minute run time does its job. It tugs at the heartstrings. But then the tires seem to leak air as the trip (and the movie) wobbles to its end. The actors would be better served with a movie that rips at the heart or a feel-good comedy. This movie can't decide what it wants to be and with skilled actors, the film becomes frustrating. The acting is so good, and the ending feels forced.
It's a movie that begs to be liked and the audience wants to like it. It has all of the makings of something touching with an accomplaished writer and beautiful cinematography against a lush backdrop of the (New Zealand) sky. Filmed during the pandemic, the film presents an idyllic Los Angeles clear of smog. But, like the location, the movie feels only mostly authentic. The payoff doesn't deserve its cast, and the cast is excellent.