Thought Provoking, Disturbing, and Excellent.

Rating: 10/10 (18 November 2006)

Martin Scorsese's "Taxi Driver" is an intense urban classic that has disturbed and provoked audiences since it's release. The film centers around the character of Travis Bickle (masterfully played by Robert De Niro), a previous Vietnam veteran, who is living in downtown New York City in a rough-and-tumble area, living like a loner. His job is a taxi driver - so naturally, he gets to meet a lot of people, including a young woman named Betsy (Cybill Shepard), and a teenage hooker, Iris (Jodie Foster). But Travis is one disturbed individual. And as he sees the "scum" of the city through his eyes, he ultimately takes it upon himself to violently lash out at the sleazy underside of the city, and plans on executing the city Senator.
"Taxi Driver" - simply put - is nothing short of a masterpiece. The story is a semi-autobiography on Paul Schrader (the writer of the film), who was reflecting on his experiences when he apparently had a mental breakdown himself. Throw in a master director like Martin Scorsese, some top-of-the-line actors (Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster), combined with the intriguing plot, and you've got a really great movie. De Niro is the most remarkable thing about the film - he plays Travis precisely - his mannerisms, expressions, monologues - everything just worked perfectly. The character he played was disturbing, and his performance brought the character to life perfectly. The film is full of vivid performances, I can't say anything bad about any of the players. The last 45 minutes of the film were among the most disturbing of it all, but the film was one giant buildup to the film's conclusion, and was both suspenseful but enthralling. The score, done by Bernard Herrman, who was also behind Hitchcock's "Psycho", gives a very haunting and memorable score to go along with the film. Again, (I can't stress this enough) DeNiro's portrayal of the mysterious and menacing Max Cady is the film's real strong point though, and that alone makes it worth watching.
Overall, "Taxi Driver" is a haunting classic, and is a film that you will likely remember for a long time to come. If the story and direction isn't enough to make you want to see the film, the actors and masterful performances should be a good enough reason. Wonderful, disturbing, excellence. 10/10.