Welcome to Mad Reviews again! I made my grand return a few days ago by re-reviewing 2001: A Space Odyssey. As you may already know, I put reviewing aside 7 months ago to re-focus my life, and turn a new leaf. Now that everything is in order with my great new job and new band, I can now continue on with my 2nd passion, which is talking about movies. I'm happy to be doing this again!
Anyways, since my first review back was a classic by Stanley Kubrick, I figured I would now tackle a classic by another mastermind filmmaker: Martin Scorsese. I actually realized looking back on my reviews that I have yet to review one of his movies. With that being said, I've decided to take a look at what I consider to be the greatest pure character study of all time: Taxi Driver.
How would I describe this movie in only a few words? Well, if 2001 is a symphony of space travel, then Taxi Driver is what I would call a “Symphony of Madness.”
Right at the beginning, we as the audience are transported into the mind of Travis Bickle: A Vietnam vet with major PTSD who takes a job driving a taxi through the streets of New York. We see the world through his eyes, and to him, the world is a rotten shithole (no argument here). As the movie goes on, we learn that Mr. Bickle is an insane nobody who (by the end) will stop at nothing to prove that he's a somebody, even if it's only in his own twisted mind. That's part of this movie's brilliance: On the outside looking in, Travis is an insane, miserable creep with no people skills. But in his mind, it's everyone else who's trash. He can do no wrong.
This film can be relatable to many people in that regard. Do you know anyone like Travis? Someone who means well, but doesn't realize that what he does is a little fucked up? Someone who's idea of a date is taking a nice girl out to a porno movie? Someone who (after you and your friends are telling jokes and talking about the women they're banging) chimes in to your conversation to tell you about the latest murder cases going on? Someone who pulls you aside to talk about their "dark thoughts" and expect you to give them words of wisdom (And you're thinking "WTF")? I'm sure you know someone like that... If you don't, well... you're it, buddy!
Alright, so I've gone on about the film's main character... What about the story itself? Well, it's a character study, so the story basically covers the life and times of Travis Bickle. From his interview at the taxi company, to his bloody demise. In between, we see his mind slowly deteriorate into a pool of loneliness, desperation, and pure rage. He drives the streets of New York every day, and sees nothing but scum. He sees it on the sidewalks, the crosswalks, and even in his own cab. The more fares he takes, the crazier and sicker he gets. He's forced to clean cum and blood off his back seat every night, he sees pimps snag hookers out of his car, he speeds away from hooligans in Harlem, and Martin Scorsese himself forces him to stake out an apartment while Scorsese's wife is getting rammed in there. Yeah, stuff like that can disillusion someone pretty damn quick.
It doesn't help that Bickle himself is out of his mind. He spends his spare time frequenting porno theatres, hitting on the cashiers in said theatres, following 12 year-old prostitutes, and stalking a beautiful campaign worker named Betsy that he's convinced he's in love with (the ladder part is where this movie is at it's most awkward). Seriously, he stakes out the Palantine campaign building and watches this chick work. He eventually walks in and asks her out, and for some reason she agrees (blondes... amirite?). They have pie together, he creepily tells her about some "connection" he feels with her, she awkwardly acknowledges it... and then she agrees to go out with him again??? Thankfully, for Betsy's sake, Travis takes her out to a porn theatre on the next date. She's unimpressed and wises up pretty quickly, ditching Travis and focusing her attention on Hank Scorpio.
As awkward as those moments with Betsy were (and by "awkward" I mean "piss your pants uncomfortable"), it's probably the best part of the movie. We get a great sense of how mal-adjusted Travis is, and how he's so engulfed in his own world that anyone who comes into contact with him must be part of that world. And who the fuck would want to be there? Fuck, not even a 12 year-old prostitute (played wonderfully by Jodie Foster) wants any part of that shit.
Eventually, Bickle becomes so fed up with everything that he buys a bunch of guns and begins acting tough to a mirror:
Of course I am, you're the only one here...
Travis's descent into madness results in a climax for the ages, and the film concludes with an ambiguous ending that's still being interpreted to this day. Don't worry, I won't spoil that for you... I'm not that much of a dick.
As said before, this film is a character study. The tone of the film matches Bickle's traits beautifully. It has very eerie, haunting, and chaotic feel to it, and with the unpredictability and creepiness of Travis, everything falls into place tone-wise. You get a sense of just how disgusting the world is through Travis's eyes, and Robert DeNiro plays the character perfectly.
Now there's a segue into the acting if I've ever seen one. Everyone in this movie puts on a terrific performance. Cybill Shepherd and Jodie Foster are both amazing in this movie as the "love interests" Betsy and Iris, and emphasis needs to be put on Jodie Foster's performance as playing a 12 year-old prostitute was the easiest thing to do. Hank Scorpio does a great job as Betsy's pseudo bodyguard Tom, and even Martin Scorsese himself does a wonderful job as a passenger and a random observer watching Betsy... I'm still wondering if those two are the same character or not. All of these acting jobs really bring the whole movie together to create the masterpiece that Taxi Driver truly is.
This movie is a one-of-a-kind classic. It lives up to its legendary status as one of the greatest movies ever made. It genially portrays the brutality of a dog-eat-dog city like New York, all through the eyes of a tremendously flawed man. Taxi Driver is without a doubt the greatest character study of all time. While I do consider Goodfellas to be the best Scorsese film, Taxi Driver is a very, very, VERY close second. If you haven't seen it yet, it's definitely worth your time, so go buy it on Blu-Ray and watch the fucking thing!
This gets 1000 stars out of 1000. Can't find any flaws and can't imagine I ever will... For a near 40 year-old movie, it has held up amazingly.
One more thing... I'm going to be serious for a moment: I mentioned that I had taken a break from reviewing movies for nearly 7 months. Well, the reason why I wanted to review this movie is that I felt I owed it. For a good chunk of those 7 months, I was going through some radical shit, and I experienced some things that nobody should ever have to. For a time, I was feeling some of the things Travis Bickle was feeling, and I could relate to this movie a great deal. Thankfully, this film helped me get through a very dark time in my life. That's why I'm talking about it now, because at one point your life, you either have or will go through the things Travis did (some cases more extreme than others). So I'm deeply suggesting to everyone reading this review to go watch this movie if you haven't already... If it can help me, it can help you. Serious talk = over!
As usual. the comment section is down there for all your trolling needs.
Bye bye now!
- Mad Mike of Metal
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