Taxi Driver

Day 183 - 7/2/09 - Movie #183

BEFORE: Shocking, yes? I'm coming clean, admitting that I've never seen "Taxi Driver". Now that it's out there, I feel a lot better. So, how does this happen? How does a man get to the age of 40, consider himself a movie buff, even have a job in the industry, without ever seeing this film? I suppose I was somewhat intimidated by its reputation, but that's a poor excuse. In fact, of the top 10 most glaring omissions among my viewed movies, three star Bobby D. (the other two are "Raging Bull" and "The Deer Hunter"...) So, let's kick off the second half of my Movie Year (or 2nd quarter, if this project ends up lasting 2 years...) and rectify this situation. Again, I'm issuing 2 ratings - one for the film itself and the other for the De Niro factor.

THE 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, attempting to save a teenage prostitute in the process.

AFTER: I'm struck by two things - the first is the way that a young De Niro looks and acts reminds me of Christopher Meloni, from "Oz" and "Law & Order: SVU" (more likely, Meloni studied or was influenced by De Niro...). Something about the way both actors will smile at someone, just before taking them out.

The second thing is how, taken on its own, the first 45 minutes greatly resemble a Woody Allen film. It's New York City, it's late, a bunch of cab drivers are sitting around a diner, talking about their strange passengers, while jazz music plays in the background. A neurotic man goes on a date with a beautiful woman, he doesn't know how to act, and it's a disaster - that's Woody, right? But once Travis Bickle gets himself "organiz-ized" and starts keeping a journal, we see just how obsessive he's becoming - and before long, he's buying guns and doing those scary push-up exercises.

I'm glad Bickle points out that he's an ex-Marine, presumably a Vietnam vet, because it's easier to envision a disgruntled veteran becoming an armed urban assassin than it is for a guy who just got turned down by Cybill Shepherd. (Don't take it personal, Travis, she won't return my calls either...) There's a small scene that tells you everything you need to know about Travis Bickle: he's watching a soap opera, the TV is balanced on a box or something, and he's tilting it back further and further with his foot. Of course, he tilts it too far, and the TV falls and breaks. Well, how else would he know how far back he could tilt it? How close are any of us to the edge of madness, and how do we know where the edge is, without falling into the abyss?

They say it's the quiet ones you need to look out for - and when someone in NYC snaps, they always interview his friends and neighbors. Invariably, what do they say? "He was a quiet guy, kept to himself, didn't say much of anything..." In the event that I go off the rails someday, I've instructed all my friends and co-workers to say the exact opposite: "Yeah, that guy was wound way too tight! We all knew it was just a matter of time..." Just because you never seem to hear that.

RATING: 5 out of 10 snub-nosed pistols (the narrative was like a 4, but I'm adding 1 for the unintentional (?) comedic bits, like Scorcese himself as a talkative cab passenger.

DENIR-O-METER: A solid 10, for an actor's showcase from start to finish.