A very good character study about loneliness in urban society

Rating: 7/10 (22 August 2018)

Taxi Driver is a very technically well done movie that didn't quite rivet me at any point. De Niro and Schrader both do excellent work in this film, and the themes Scorsese plays with are very well done. Travis' struggles to fit in with society naturally are well developed, as we see him try to be friendly with several characters and remain alone and dissatisfied at each turn. The personification of the city of New York was very well done. My favorite element of the movie was the use of the music and lighting as cues to show Travis' gradual descent into madness and violence. That being said, I found the ending to be good but not great and that the movie just didn't quite connect with me. It was very interesting thematically to have Travis kill the pimps and be treated as a hero for it, and end up right back in the same place driving a taxi and struggling to interact appropriately with Betsy, even after he was declared a hero. The shooting and his ability to move normally and live through the shots to his neck and shoulder were unrealistic, and the climax just didn't feel like anything more than a violent scene, it held little emotional weight for me. I have the utmost respect for Taxi Driver as a technically well done movie and study in the loneliness of a specific character in relation to society, but it's not a movie that was relatable to me or had me feeling invested in the characters.