great performances from lots of stars in their early days

Rating: Null/10 (8 October 2004)

I was impressed with every actor and actress here. De Niro, Shepherd, Foster, and Keitel all played their respective roles very well. They had a great story and script to back them up. I really liked how the plot was fairly simple (the title sums up the main character and the setting) yet great depth was added to the characters and the story as a whole. This was achieved through monologues by De Niro and conversations between characters that told us how they each felt. I also liked how the film was broken up into several threads that really weren't related except through the involvement of the main character. For example you had the relationship with Betsy (Shepherd) and the saving a prostitute (Foster) from her life as one. Also interesting was how De Niro's character Travis evolved throughout the film. You had the veteran looking for a job that became his life, then the gun addict then the good samaritan who wanted to save one particular girl from prostitution. I also liked the way the film was shot. Lighting was often used noticeably (for example Travis and his taxi driver friends were often illuminated by a red neon light that surrounded them). The lighting was usually sparse to match the dark atmosphere which was very appropriate to the story. There were also some interesting camera shots and angles. There was always plenty of time to think about what the characters were feeling and reflect on the action that had just taken place (for example in the final scene we get a nice long sequence covering everything thats just happened, again). The sound track and score were also very appropriate and always seemed to fit the scene perfectly. You know it's a good score when you don't notice it much because you're not surprised by it. i.e. there's no unexpectedly up beat tunes. This may also work the other way but in this film there wasn't much upbeatness so it was never an issue to have slow music in a happy scene.