sad, tragic, and moving (especially for guys)

Rating: Null/10 (19 February 2002)

This movie, like many of its critics say, is a complete downer with almost nothing positive to show about life. It just goes to show how a neurotic loser of a man can violently try to do something with his life, and fail at it. But anyone who's ever felt anxious, lonely and stressed out at any time can likely identify with him. He's a common person's anxieties, only exaggerated to the extreme, I guess. I was scared of Travis, only when he tries to save Iris from her pimp, when he wishes that the rain could wash away all the "scum of the earth", and when, in the last scene, he sees his reflection in the mirror and quickly hits the mirror away, I couldn't help but feel for him. A lot of this movie's greatness comes from Bernard Herrmann's memorable music. Without it, the whole movie might have just been grim, but with the music, it's sad in an almost Romantic way. In the end, I'd have to say it's a great movie, not because it puts you in any kind of positive mood, it's great because being in the world of Travis is an intense experience like almost no other movie is.