remarkable

Rating: Null/10 (29 October 1998)

Taxi Driver starts out slow, as we follow Travis Bickle around New York in his daily routine. We can identify with him, he's a little shy, awkward around strangers. Then we see that he's very detached mentally as well as socially. He learns more about Betsy by a very simple form of stalking. He means no harm, but in his attempts to impress her, he only succeeds in driving her away. After the disaster with Bestsy and the chance encounter with the Senator she works for, Travis suddenly has a purpose in his life. The film starts to move quicker as Travis prepares for his mission. He becomes more and more removed from society. His face reflects a simple minded goal. His attempt at assassination goes bad and Travis decides he must save Iris, the 13 year old prostitute he met. The film becomes a bloodbath as Travis shoots everyone he sees in a sleazy hotel. Scorsese's view of New York is a gritty, violent one. DeNiro perfectly captures the malaise that many people feel in large cities. Most people are not like Travis Bickle, but there are some who are just like him. Ticking time bombs, waiting to go off. Travis went off, and in the end of the film we see in his eyes that he's not done going off.