WHAT I ALREADY KNEW ABOUT THE MOVIE:
1) It stars Robert De Niro
2) It was directed by Martin Scorsese
3) It has the famous line, "Are you talkin' to me?"
LET ME EXPLAIN...
Being as this is a Scorsese film, I pretty much knew two things before it started: 1) it'll be a very well-made movie, and 2) it's not going to be a feel-good type of story. I was correct on both accounts.
Scorsese is a great filmmaker, represented on the AFI List two other times with Raging Bull and Goodfellas. "Taxi Driver" is considered to be his first masterpiece, and while it was certainly well made, it also felt a bit experimental. Sort of like when you have a favorite, established musical group or singer, and you go back and listen to their first album. It's still good, but you can tell they've matured since then and sharpened their skills.
As for the story, it wasn't "feel good", as I stated above (just look at the cover for it), and it didn't really hold any sort of redeeming or entertaining value to me. You're just witnessing a Vietnam vet slowly boil into a violent eruption as he spends hours and hours driving a taxi around wretched neighborhoods.
What makes this a "Top 100" Movie?
It's technically a well-made film, and Scorsese ranks as one of the best filmmakers in history. With this being his first "masterpiece", it stands to reason that he introduced some new elements and brought his unique style to American film in "Taxi Driver". It was nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture.
Complaints:
Sub-stories seemed to only fit into certain chunks of the film, and there wasn't a whole lot of connection other than the main character just deciding to go here one day, care about that on another day, etc.
LET ME SUM UP...
A pretty good film, technically speaking. But the story didn't seem tied together all that well. Definitely my least favorite of the Scorsese films I've watched.
MY RATING: 3/10
TOTAL # OF FILMS WATCHED: 95
(This is the only video clip I could find that didn't have profanity in it.)
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