Taxi Driver (Collector's Edition) | Diahnne Abbott, Frank Adu

Taxi Driver (Collector's Edition) | Diahnne Abbott, Frank Adu | "Mr. Cab Driver. . ."

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Taxi Driver (Colle...

	Taxi Driver (Collector's Edition) Diahnne Abbott, Frank Adu Sony Pictures, 1999 average customer review:based on 373 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

A Vietnam veteran becomes a New York taxi driver and allows the violence around him to explode in his mind, sending him into violence himself.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: R
Release Date: 26-DEC-2000
Media Type: DVD

The original American Psycho

Being a cab driver for almost 18 years, Taxi Driver is a personal favorite of mine. Driving a cab is like a drug: you get to meet new people everyday; you don't have to wait a week or two to get paid---everything's cash money; you get to know the whole city; you learn where the hot spots are--the restaurants, the bars, the clubs, etc. You set your own hours and you choose where you want to work and whom you want to serve. You have no one breathing down your neck--you are your own boss. There's a saying among cabbies: only two kinds of people get more p**** than cabbies: movie stars and rock stars.

Being a cab driver is like being a sponge. You become a therapist, a conscience, a drinking buddy, a strip club buddy, a shoulder to cry on, or a one-night stand. People show themselves to you, but you're a cabbie and you've seen it all anyway. For an extra-nice tip, a cab can be a rolling motel, a getaway car, or a safe haven to indulge strange pleasures. A cabbie is faceless from the back seat: he or she won't judge you.

After a while, every cabbie develops a callus: every passenger becomes a blur. Robert De Niro's character, Travis Bickle, sees society as converging dots flowing together like the scum on his windshield. Prostitutes, pimps, addicts, and winos gum the sidewalks. Urine stings every breath. Neon melts over his cab. This is the world that Travis lives in, and he hates it more and more everyday.

The world has become a toilet to Travis Bickle. Out of this filth appears a flower of virtue that nothing can touch--a young gorgeous campaign-volunteer named Betsy played by Cybill Shepherd. She's the most beautiful woman he's ever seen. Driving a cab at night, all Travis sees are whores; however, Betsy's incorruptible, and she alone can redeem mankind. She allows him to take her on a date. Though awkward, he says all the right things. He takes her to the theater to see a movie--a porno flick. Horrified and offended, she hails a cab and leaves him on the sidewalk. Travis is stunned. At that moment, a whore saunters by. They pause to gaze at each other--she is his mirror; they are one and the same.

Betsy destroys Travis; she's just like all the others. Now, there's nothing in the world worth saving--now, he knows what he must do. He hones his body and his mind: no more smoking; no more drinking; no more bad food--he must be fit. He'll annihilate Betsy and the whole world. By chance, he stumbles into the middle of a pimp/whore squabble; the whore is a thirteen-year-old girl. Something rises up in Travis's heart, something he never felt before. He discovers something worth saving-- a lost thirteen-year-old whore named Iris (Jodie Foster).

Taxi Driver was the second collaboration between Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese. Bernard Herman's magical score wafts over every scene. Taxi Driver was an omen, forecasting the senseless tragedies of both Columbine and Virginia Tech. No movie collection is adequate without this great film. See it. Buy it. Enjoy it.

author of Gotta Be Down!

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"Mr. Cab Driver. . ."

The haunting musical soundtrack to this movie contains some of the most beautiful jazzy pieces I have ever heard. I had a custom tape made from it at one time. The story is a great psycho-drama with all of the players perfectly cast. Jodie Foster is believable as the "baby prostitute," Harvey Kietel, chilling as her pimp and Robert DeNiro is so fascinating to study as Travis Bickle, wierd product of NY subculture of the streets and psychological textbook example. It is, in retrospect, a brilliant example of post-Vietnam War 1970's atmosphere in the large cities of our country. Maybe too wierd of a movie for some to watch, but a mainstay of the viewing repretoire of a true artist.

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ARE YOU TALKIN' TO ME?

You've got to have been in a coma for the past 30 years not to have seen this movie. Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle, the "troubled" cab driver is awesome and scary. Jodie Foster (Iris) is alarmingly sexy, Cybill Shepherd (Betsy) is dreamy, and Harvey Keitel (Sport) is the evil pimp. The big shoot-out towards the end of the film is an unforgettable "classic." Tension-building direction from Martin Scorsese. Robert De Niro - The Best.

Shows Its Age Horribly

This is one of those 70's flicks that meant to shock the audience, and it did...back then. "Taxi Driver" is slowly-paced, pondering at times, and very self-indulgent, in particular one scene in with Martin Scorsese stating how he's going to kill his cheating wife.
There are more than dozen films better from this era, with better story lines, better acting and something more important to say.

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