The premise might sound like a riff on “Collateral,” but “The Accidental Getaway Driver” is no ticking clock thriller. Sing J. Lee’s quiet, big-hearted debut feature is steeped in the sorrow and yearning of its Vietnamese American characters as they work through the lingering trauma of displacement while living in Southern California.
One late night an elderly cabdriver named Long (Hiep Tran Nghia) reluctantly does a final pickup, which puts him at the mercy of three rangy men who keep switching their destination. They all end up at a motel, where the terrified driver learns from the TV news that his fares are fugitives from prison — a moment that sounds too convenient, but comes straight from the 2017 GQ feature that inspired Lee’s film.
Tay (Dustin Nguyen), a member of the group, keeps chatting with Long and confiding personal details, which only scares Long more: Will he know too much? But as the nights of laying low go on, the two men bond over their experiences with family separation and a buried sense of self. Tay harbors shame over his crimes, while Long, a divorced veteran, feels shunted aside by his estranged family.
Tay’s companions — Aden (Dali Benssalah), their shifty leader, and a young-gun named Eddie (Phi Vu) — threaten to push the film into aggressive action. But despite comic touches, the story stays in the shadows of heart-to-heart talks and ruminations, with contemplative cinematography that sets faces like gems in the darkness and conjures heady visions of Long in Vietnam. Tay and Long might meet under duress, but their commiseration helps free them from their individual pain.
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