Taxi Driver

SETTING: Late 70's early 80's New York

RATING: R, DRAMA, THRILLER

PLOT: A mentally unstable Vietnam war veteran works as nighttime taxi driver in a city whose perceived decadence and sleaze feeds his urge to violently lash out.

QUOTES: I Must tell you before we go on this film has a TON! of memorable lines.
Travis Bickle: [Travis is trying his guns on the mirror] Huh? Huh?
[Draws]
Travis Bickle: Faster than you, fucking son of a... Saw you coming you fucking... shitheel.
[Reholsters]
Travis Bickle: I'm standing here; you make the move. You make the move. It's your move...
[Draws]
Travis Bickle: Don't try it you fuck.
[Reholsters]
Travis Bickle: You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Then who the hell else are you talking... you talking to me? Well I'm the only one here. Who the fuck do you think you're talking to? Oh yeah? OK.
[Draws]

THOUGHTS: WOW! for being one of the classic films I thought it would be.......better. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I expected the film to move a little faster. Do not get me wrong Robert De Nero was fantastic, not to mention Jody Foster with Harvey Keitel as her pimp. This film was had an air about it that help move it along but it seemed there was just too much drama that did not add to much as far as moving the storyline along. That said the climax of the film is where it's at! The action portrayed is amazing! I am not a lover of gore mind you. It was just amazing how it was placed on film.

SYNOPSIS: Vietnam vet Travis Bickle, a loner in the mean streets of New York City, slipping slowly into isolation and violent misanthropy. In solving his insomnia by driving a yellow cab on the night shift, he grows increasingly disgusted by the low-lifes that hang out at night: "Someday a real rain will come and wash all the scum off the streets." His touching attempts to woo Betsy, a Senator's campaign worker, turn sour when he takes her to a porn movie on a date. He even fails in his attempt to persuade child prostitute Iris to desert her pimp and return to her parents and school. Driven to the edge by powerlessness, he buys four handguns and sets out to "clean up the streets of New York."

CONCLUSION: Well thought out film, slow to get going but once it does watch out!! definitely a watcher but not quite an owner. The realistic portrayal of the shoot out was film amazingly. Showing what I would guess as true human reaction. very well done, with the addition of top name actor and actresses.

THEIR RATING:CHICAGO SUN TIMES (Ebert): 4 out of 5 "Taxi Driver" shouldn't be taken as a New York film; it's not about a city but about the weathers of a man's soul, and out of all New York he selects just those elements that feed and reinforce his obsessions.

MY RATING: 4 OUT OF 5: The use of the actors of the day were astounding. The cinematography was grainy yet subtle. Travis' struggle is not far fetched which added to the realism of the film. Yes watch this film at least once in your life.