Paul Schrader's gritty screenplay depicts the ever-deepening alienation of Vietnam Veteran Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro in a tour-de-force performance), a psychotic cab driver who obsessively cruises the mean streets of Manhattan.
SPOILERS: "There’s many different ways to view all of the scenes and the entire
movie can be interpreted in many different ways. I don’t think there’s any
question about the ending, it’s absolutely a dream sequence. The movie finished
with DeNiro’s character tying up all the loose ends and it gives emotional
closure, but there’s no chance any of these events happen. Chris brought up an
excellent point stating, “The ‘dream sequence’ started after DeNiro closed his
eyes for the first time.” This movie is from the Taxi Driver’s point of view
regardless of how he may view the world."
5 / 5 thrusters
"It was a great movie, it was a great movie.
Seriously though this movie would never be made by a major
studio in 2012. It was dark and
unsettling with no pay off at the end, but strangely I really enjoyed it
anyways. I go back and forth whether it is a commentary on how we treat veterans
clearly suffering from PTSD or how we as a society elevate certain kinds of
people to hero status; in this case a taxi driver who commited a triple
homicide. At the end of the movie I felt
like Jodie foster’s Iris… used, abused, and longing for something
familiar. I don’t think I will be
watching another movie like this for some time. Still it deserves the rating I am giving it:"
5 / 5 thrusters
"Can’t think of anything funny to say. This movie reminded me of those old black and white crime dramas with DeNiro driving around at night, the bright lights, the always wet and raining streets, the shots of just his eyes in the rear view mirror, and the soft voice-over talking about the scum and fog of depression that sits over a city he has nothing but disdain for. True to this format, DeNiro’s character is a truly unrelated-able protagonist with more than his share of issues….Check that…He’s straight creepy. The world around him is so corrupt that he’s powerless to fix it. There are people walking just outside his cab, but emotionally they couldn’t be further away. He’s always so tired and sleep deprived, but can never get around to closing his eyes even to blink. I couldn’t look away, and if anything substantial happened, I must not have been paying attention. Artsy fartsy, but engrossing."
4 / 5 thrusters
"Round 2 and DeNiro
knocks it out of the park once again. I’m not sure who’s talking to him, but
it’s definitely not Cybill. She apparently has no problem going on a date with
a stalker, but when he takes her to a pornographic film, suddenly she’s
offended. To top off her bad judgment, she manages to find and wear a pair of
eye-glasses that make her look like a cross-eyed Rick Moranis.
The movie brought up
a bit of debate to our group, wondering if the end was a dream or not, but I’m
more concerned with the fact that nobody mentioned Janeane Garofalo’s
performance as Jody Foster’s pimp. Not only did she get ripped for the part,
but she played a much more compassionate character than typical for her."
3 / 5 thrusters at the amazing low price of 1
dollar and 89 cents.
"Umm…this movie was terrible. There were literally no
redeeming qualities to be found. DeNiro was creepy the whole movie, it was slow
moving, and just weird. How was this man a hero?? He murdered three people in
cold blood and is then hailed as a hero. Yeah they were bad guys but that
doesn’t mean he can just go around shooting people. Also what the hell kind of guy takes a girl
to a dirty movie on their first date??"
0.5/ 5 thrusters
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