Taxi Driver

Rating: 10/10 (31 December 2004)

Taxi Driver is the best film of the century. Martin Scorsese's use of point of view show the mind of the tortured Vietnam, veteran, Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro). The film is loosely inspired by John Ford's The Searchers. Paul Schrader's excellent script is obviously based on some of Dostoevsky's novels. Harvey Keitel is outstanding as the pedophile pimp. Martin Scorsese was not nominated for an Academy Award, but it is his best work. The movie was almost given an X rating for extreme violence. Jodie Foster as the 12 year old prostitute received her first Oscar nomination (best supporting actress). The film lost out in the Best Picture category to John G. Avildsen's Rocky. The most memorable shot in the film is the scene where Bickle is talking to Betsy. The camera moves past him and focuses on an empty hallway. This symbolizes Bickle's loneliness.