California, Dali Benssalah, drama, Dustin Nguyen, film festivals, Hiep Tran Nghia, movies, Phi Vu, reviews, Sing J. Lee, Sundance, Sundance Film Festival, The Accidental Getaway Driver, true crime, Vu Tran
March 19, 2025
by Carla Hay
“The Accidental Getaway Driver”
Directed by Sing J. Lee
Some language in Vietnamese with subtitles
Culture Representation: Taking place in Orange County, California, the dramatic film “The Accidental Getaway Driver” (based on real events) features a predominantly Asian group of people (with some white people) representing the working-class and middle-class.
Culture Clash: A taxi driver is taken hostage by three escaped prison inmates, who force him to drive them to their intended destination.
Culture Audience: “The Accidental Getaway Driver” will appeal primarily to people who are interested in watching crime dramas that have deeper meanings about human connections during a crisis.
“The Accidental Getaway Driver” sometimes suffers from tedious pacing. However, the movie still delivers effective performances and enough suspense in this drama about a taxi driver forced to transport three escaped prisoners. “The Accidental Getaway Driver” is based on a true story that happened in 2016, when three inmates broke out of Orange County Men’s Central Jail in Santa Ana, California. The real name of the taxi driver remains the same in the movie, but the names of the real inmate escapees have been changed for the movie.
Directed by Sing J. Lee, “The Accidental Getaway Driver” was co-written by Lee and Christopher Chen. “The Accidental Getaway Driver” (which is Lee’s feature-film diectorial debut) had its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Directing prize in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. The movie takes place in Orange County, California, where “The Accidental Getaway Driver” was filmed on location.
As already revealed in the movie’s synopsis and trailer, it’s no accident that taxi driver Long Mâ (played by Hiệp Trần Nghĩa) has been forced to be the getaway driver for these fugitives. The movie doesn’t waste any time because this abduction is shown near the beginning of the film. “The Accidental Getaway Driver” is told from Long’s point of view.
Long is a divorced father who lives alone. He is at an age (his 70s) when most people are retired, but he can’t afford to retire. It’s mentioned later that Long and his ex-wife have two adult children. Long is self-employed and has his own small private taxi service, which is why there is no agency or no company that gets the unusual call that he gets on a fateful night. The only car for Long’s taxi service is his Toyota Camry.
Long gets a call for a passenger pickup to go to convenience store called ABC Market in Orange County’s Little Saigon neighborhood. At first, Long says no because he says he’s off duty and it’s too late at night. However, Long changes his mind when the caller offers to pay double the rate of what Long would normally charge. This offer turns out to be a trap.
There are three adult male passengers in this ride. Long will soon find out that these men have escaped from an Orange County jail, where they were incarcerated for various violent crimes. The fugitives have a gun, and they are going to force Long to help with their escape. It becomes apparent that Long was chosen because two out of the three fugitives are Vietnamese, and the plan is to hide out in areas that have a large Vietnamese population.
Thess are the three kidnapping criminals:
- Aden Sahli (played by Dali Benssalah) is the 37-year-old mastermind of the group and is the one who is most likely to get violent. Aden, who is an Iranian immigrant who served in the U.S. military, has a nasty temper and is a devious manipulator. The character of Aden is based on real-life convicted kidnapper Hossein Nayeri, who was in jail for an unrelated 2012 kidnapping, torture and mutilation that he planned with other accomplices.
- Tây Duong (played by Dustin Nguyen) is 43 years old and was incarcerated for attempted murder and firearm possession. Tây says that he has an older sister named Linda (played by Tiffany Rothman), who lives in the local area with her husband Minh (played by Vu Tran). The character of Tây is based on the real-life Bac Duong.
- Edward “Eddie” Ly (played by Phi Vũ) is 20 years old and was incarcerated for attempted murder and murder. Eddie is also an alleged gang member. The character of Eddie is based on the real-life Jonathan Tieu.
As soon as Long picks up these three passengers, he notices that they are acting suspiciously when they go to ABC Market. Long sees that there are drops of blood in the back seat, where Aden and Eddie have been sitting. Tây is sitting in the front passenger seat.
When the three strangers finish their shopping and get back in the car, they are carrying shopping bags that contain items that they need while hiding as fugitives. Tây then pulls out a gun, points it at Long, and says, “You’re going to help us, okay?” Long finds out that these passengers have escaped from jail and there’s a $2,000 reward for information leading to their capture. The kidnappers refuse Long’s request to be let go.
However, there’s a glimmer of hope for Long when Tây says that they will let Long go after the kidnappers achieve their goal to drive north to go to a place where they can get fake passports. It’s explained that the kidnappers had pre-paid for fake passports from another place but got ripped off because they never got those passports. Will the kidnappers keep their promise to let Long go after the kidnappers get the passports they want?
The rest of “The Accidental Getaway Driver” shows Long’s ordeal as he is forced to stay with these kidnappers over multiple days. During this kidnapping, Long has flashback memories of different parts of his life. And an unexpected father/son type of bond forms between Long and one of the kidnappers.
Much of “The Accidental Getaway Driver” is about the pitfalls and regrets of loneliness. At one point, Long dejectedly admits to his kidnappers that no one in his life will notice if he’s missing for several days. This sobering thought makes Long re-evaluate the isolated life that he had been living when he got kidnapped.
And these kidnappers aren’t exactly friends with complete trust in each other. They just happened to be in the same jail and saw an opportunity to plan this escape together. As trust among the kidnappers begins to unravel, it becomes a question of whether or not they will stick together or have an “every man for himself” attitude.
The principal cast members of “The Accidental Getaway Driver” deliver very good performances, with Hiệp Trần Nghĩa being the obvious standout. Long knows that he’s no physical match for these younger kidnappers, so he doesn’t put up much of a fight and remains calm through most of this abduction. That doesn’t mean that Long has given up hope that he will survive this kidnapping. “The Accidental Getaway Driver” is a memorable depiction of what can happen when a surprising friendship forms among people who are supposed to be opponents in horrible circumstances.
Utopia released “The Accidental Getaway Driver” in select U.S. cinemas on February 28, 2025. The movie will be released on digital and VOD on April 8, 2025.