Are You Talking' to Me? Well I'm the Only One Here.

Rating: 9/10 (6 May 2015)

Taxi Driver (1976): Dir: Martin Scorsese / Cast: Robert De Niro, Cybil Shepherd, Jodie Foster, Albert Brooks, Harvey Keitel: Provocative thriller about loneliness and the vessel of danger. Travis Bickle drives a cab and observes everything he hates. He tries to connect with two women. One is involved in a political campaign while the other is a teenage prostitute. Ending is both questionable and observant on how it presents the media as celebrating the diabolical and rewarding it through press. Directed skillfully by Martin Scorsese who previously scored acclaim with Mean Streets. Robert De Niro as Travis rose to great fame with this role. Bickle is a failure with women and cannot communicate appropriately even when his intentions are good. He answers rejection through an assassination attempt and a murder rescue, both of which bring different results. Cybil Shepherd plays Betsy whom he loses connection due to a fatal choice. She is working at a campaign when Travis bluntly asks her out. Jodie Foster plays Iris the teenage hooker he desires to save. Albert Brooks plays Betsy's campaign co-worker whom she doesn't connect with despite his work ethics and amusing demeanor. Harvey Keitel plays Iris's pimp who has a sly smooth demeanor that Bickle targets as a necessary kill. Dark and gritty reality of good intentions gone bad and unable to discern. Score: 9 / 10