REVIEW: Taxi Driver (1976)

1976, Columbia Pictures/Bill-Phillips Productions Inc./Italo-Judeo Productions

Director
Martin Scorsese
Producers
Michael Phillips and Julia Phillips
Writer
Paul Schrader
Cinematography
Michael Chapman
Editing
Tom Rolf and Melvin Shapiro

Cast
Robert DeNiro [Travis Bickle], Jodie Foster [Iris], Harvey Keitel [Sport], Peter Boyle [Wizard], Albert Brooks [Wizard], Cybill Shepherd [Betsy]

Plot
Travis Bickle is a former Marine who lives in New York City. Finding a job as a nighttime cab driver, he goes everywhere in the city. He is disgusted with all the pimps, prostitutes, and drug dealers of the city. However, it is more that he is lonely. He has no friends and spends his free time either at the adult theaters or at home. When he meets political volunteer Betsy, he falls for her. However, a terrible first date leads Travis to lose her. As Travis draws deeper into both depression and insanity, he meets Iris, a 12-year old runaway who has become a child prostitute. He decides to help her at any cost, thus showing his personality as a lonely man who is tired of the "garbage" of New York City.

Review
Over the past few decades, Martin Scorsese and Robert DeNiro have been one of the most prolific director-actor teams in Hollywood. After their first collaboration MEAN STREETS (1974), the pair returns in what is hailed as a classic film.

DeNiro gives out of his greatest performances as an ex-military man who moonlights as a taxi driver. The reason is because he is both bored and lonely. Set in New York City (and shot on location), DeNiro's Bickle is someone who hates all of the "garbage" of New York City yet he spends time at the adult movie theaters when he is not at work. While this may be seen as a hypocrisy, it is more that Bickle is so lonely that his mind isn't set right. Thus, it is Bickle's slow departure into violent tendencies that drives the film as a whole all because of his loneliness.

He does find a potential love interest in Betsy, a volunteer campaign manager, played well by Cybill Shepherd. However, he has more of a dark style of approaching her, first by stalking her at work. He finally does make his way to ask her out and while their coffee date goes well, their actual first date is a disaster. Why? Because Travis takes Betsy to a (you guessed it) porno movie. At first, he doesn't seem to let go, but finally snaps when he confronts her at work. This shows that Travis, just for the slightest while, seemed happy, until the porno movie bit sends him back to square one.

In comes Jodie Foster's Iris, who ultimately becomes the catalyst for Travis' breaking point. Learning about her past and as to why she has become a child prostitute makes him finally snap. He offers to help her and while she doesn't believe, he ultimately risks his life to save someone and perhaps, save himself from the loneliness that has taken over his life. It is as if Travis wants to act like either a father figure or "big brother" to Iris because he doesn't really have anyone to rely on. Even hanging out with his fellow cabbies on break doesn't really help him throughout the course of the film as he sits there while Wizard (Peter Boyle) tells some stories about his work.

TAXI DRIVER is truly a great film that combines a great storyline about one man's loneliness and doing what it takes to break it, all complemented with one of Robert DeNiro's most exciting performances.

AlbertV's Rating: A+