Connect with us
The Accidental Getaway Driver
Image Courtesy of Sundance

Film

The Accidental Getaway Driver is a Poignant Expression of Empathy

Sing J. Lee’s feature-length directorial debut surfaces the importance of human connection in this true story of an unlikely bond.

Sundance 2023: The Accidental Getaway Driver Review

The need for family and a connection to home invades the escape attempts of three fugitives and the older man forced into their plans in The Accidental Getaway Driver. The feelings of disconnect from the rest of the world lays the groundwork for a richly layered but languidly paced exploration of the importance of maintaining a lifeline to your heritage and culture. Sing J. Lee’s slow-burn drama presents the true story it’s based on with an acute visual acumen that captures the unnerving intensity of the situation and the surprisingly heartening bonds that form within a harrowing situation.

Lee and Christopher Chen’s screenplay – adapted from the GQ article of the same name by Paul Kix – is built on disconnect and divides between characters. When Long Mã (Hiệp Trần Nghĩa) gets into his cab to secure a late-night fare in Southern California, he’s already alone and seemingly severed from the rest of the world. Living within an apartment complex in a primarily Vietnamese community, Long doesn’t seem to socialize much, and his connection to the outside world is tenuous at best. The cab appears to be his only gateway to human interaction. When he’s greeted by Tây (Dustin Nguyen) in his native language of Vietnamese, there’s a bond that quickly surfaces. However, just as soon as it forms, it’s dismantled, as a simple pick-up and drop-off become an increasing series of suspicious requests by Tây and his two friends, Aden (Dali Benssalah) and Eddie (Phi Vu).

The bond is wholly disintegrated once Long discovers that the three men he has been driving around are on the lam and have now kidnapped Long for an indeterminate amount of time. What sounds like an exciting thriller deftly reveals itself to be the opposite. Despite some thrilling sequences closer to the film’s end, The Accidental Getaway Driver is a meditative gaze into the vitality of friendship and family. It’s a solemn reflection on how those connections matter, regardless of how they form or where they lead us. As Long watches the three fugitives holed up in a hotel room (which acts as the setting for most of Lee’s film), it becomes clear that these men believe they are all they have left.

The Accidental Getaway Driver
Image Courtesy of Sundance

What becomes most compelling about The Accidental Getaway Driver is how that belief gets prodded by brief moments of respite in Long’s capture. While he is technically a hostage, the relationship that forms between him and Tây takes on a strength that seems to carry both characters through their predicament. It’s shared feelings of home and the disappointment and guilt about how they’ve lived to this point combined with the notion that despite their age difference, they can relate to one another. 

Fixated on how Long perceives these men and memories of his past that keep pushing themselves forward due to how uncertain his future is now, The Accidental Getaway Driver’s slow pacing is dictated mainly by its main character. Hiệp Trần Nghĩa’s performance has to convey an insurmountable burden that cements his inability to pull himself away from the situation. Long is a character that seems to learn empathy as the film progresses. Through Michael Cambio Fernandez’s photography, the audience becomes attuned to the same gradual realization through a watchful eye on Long and his captors.

It can occasionally be a taxing pace, though, and there are moments when the film feels stretched thin. However, it then snaps back into place and reemphasizes the ties that bind its characters beyond pure circumstance. It’s the empathy that Lee’s direction conveys that roots The Accidental Getaway Driver to the heart of its characters as opposed to the events that have driven them to their current situation. Lee’s direction is perhaps too steady throughout, but it culminates in a heartwarming and assured resolution where characters are seen for who they can be and not who they are.

The 2023 Sundance Film Festival takes place from January 19th to 29thFind all our coverage here.

Written By

Chris is a graduate of Communications from Simon Fraser University and resides in Victoria, British Columbia. Given a pint, he will talk for days about action films, video games, and the works of John Carpenter.

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Facebook

Trending

Is Andy Allo Pregnancy Rumors Real Or Fake? Is Andy Allo Pregnancy Rumors Real Or Fake?

Is Andy Allo Pregnancy Rumors Real Or Fake?

Celebrity

Christian Stracke Net Worth 2024 Christian Stracke Net Worth 2024

Christian Stracke Net Worth 2024

Celebrity

Jackson Taylor's Death Jackson Taylor's Death

Cause Of Jackson Taylor’s Death: The Shocking Details of His Fatal Accident!

Celebrity

Is Country Legend Alan Jackson Dead At 64? Is Country Legend Alan Jackson Dead At 64?

Is Country Legend Alan Jackson Dead At 64?

Celebrity

Is Taraji P Henson Pregnant In 2023? Is Taraji P Henson Pregnant In 2023?

Is Taraji P Henson Pregnant In 2023?

Celebrity

Who Is David Rives? Who Is Jenna Ellis's First Husband? Who Is David Rives? Who Is Jenna Ellis's First Husband?

Who Is David Rives? Who Is Jenna Ellis’s First Husband?

Celebrity

Who Is Terri Ficca and Why Is She Going Viral on the Internet? Who Is Terri Ficca and Why Is She Going Viral on the Internet?

Who Is Terri Ficca and Why Is She Going Viral on the Internet?

Celebrity

Who Is Samantha Woll Husband? Who Is Samantha Woll Husband?

Who Is Samantha Woll Husband? Secrets Revealed

Celebrity

Who Is Lola Consuelos's Boyfriend Who Is Lola Consuelos's Boyfriend

Who Is Lola Consuelos’s Boyfriend: About Her Dating History

Celebrity

Is Suki Waterhouse Pregnant? Fact Check Is Suki Waterhouse Pregnant? Fact Check

Is Suki Waterhouse Pregnant? Fact Check

Celebrity

Travis Kelce’s Wife and The Surprising Rise to Fame of Travis Kelce

Celebrity

What Happened to Rev. Bryan Dunagan? Cause of Death Revealed What Happened to Rev. Bryan Dunagan? Cause of Death Revealed

What Happened to Rev. Bryan Dunagan? Cause of Death Revealed

Celebrity

Are Malika Andrews and Dave McMenamin Married? Discover The Love Journey Between The Couple Are Malika Andrews and Dave McMenamin Married? Discover The Love Journey Between The Couple

Are Malika Andrews and Dave McMenamin Married? Discover The Love Journey Between The Couple

Celebrity

Candace Parker Net Worth: Unraveling the Basketball Star’s Path to Wealth, Legacy

Celebrity

Caliphate Season 2 Release Date Caliphate Season 2 Release Date

Breaking: Caliphate Season 2 Release Date, Cast, Spoilers, Trailer, Plot, and Every Newest Update!

TV

Is Kay Adams Married? Is Kay Adams Married?

Kay Adams, Husband & Dating History: Is She Married?

Celebrity

Connect