I didn't need a second viewing to understand this one...

Rating: Null/10 (26 April 2000)

I watched "Taxi Driver" in the wee hours of the morning one night when I was stuck on some hellish late shifts that I absolutely despised. I think that all of us know or have run across at least one Travis Bickle in our lives. The one I know was my father. Over and over again, as I watched the film, I was struck by how much this looked like what my old man would think or what my old man would do. Obsessed with guns, porn, and drinking, casually lying his @$$ off to anybody and everybody, having grand plans that ultimately come to nothing--that's Travis Bickle and that's my old man. As portrayed by De Niro (one of the greatest actors who ever lived, bar none), it is obvious that Travis' problem is not New York, New York, the human sewage he wants to flush down the drain, or even his tour in Vietnam. His problem is himself...one that he can never escape from, though he tries (watch that final shootout scene and see if you don't agree with me).
The "happy" ending is, while unrealistic, very appropriate. Bickle's reward for the good deed of his life is...nothing. Not jail time, not escape from New York, nothing he's been aiming for or even deserves, in the case of jail time. He's just gone back to his meaningless, grey existence, where he'll no doubt remain for the rest of his life. Maybe he'll snap again and go on another rampage; so what? It won't change anything about him. This is the life he's stuck with...for good.