Taxi Driver (1976)

Taxi Driver (1976) – Travis Bickle (De Niro) is outraged by the decadence and disorder he sees from the driver’s seat of his taxi in New York City at night.  His attempt to rescue a beautiful young campaign worker and an underage prostitute lead him deeper into madness.

Directed by Martin Scorsese                           Starring Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd

Why You Will Like It – Intense, brooding, a landmark movie of the 1970s with an iconic character created by De Niro.

This is not light, popcorn viewing.  It is an intense examination of what loneliness can do.  Bickle is best remembered for his “You talkin’ to me?”, but the performance is so much more than that.  The movie is a launching point (or a booster rocket) for the careers of most of the principals.  De Niro had just broken out with an Oscar for his performance in “The Godfather, Pt II”, Foster was a 12-year-old unknown, Scorsese was not a big name yet.  What they create is grim, gritty and unforgettable.

De Niro’s Bickle isn’t comfortable in his own skin or the world that surrounds that skin.  What he sees as he cruises the city after dark disgusts him.  That disconnect between what the character sees as his reality and what we see reminds me of another De Niro role, Rupert Pupkin in “The King of Comedy”.  As we make our way down Bickle’s mental rabbit hole, the movie becomes more and more claustrophobic.

The focus of the movie is Bickle, but there are other wonderful performances surrounding De Niro.  Foster’s runaway streetwalker is complex and riveting.  Shepherd does her usual job.  Her role is to be beautiful and somehow remote rather than to bring much depth to the character.  Albert Brooks and Peter Boyle are solid in smaller roles.

I always think of this movie in snapshots of the action or characters.  Foster in the big hat and sunglasses, De Niro in the cab or working with the guns.  The Mohawk. And the overhead shot in the final scene.  Brutal, violent and unforgettable.

The result is something that any movie lover should see

Rating – ***** Must See