De Niro wears an unconvincing fake moustache.

Rating: 1/10 (26 July 2008)

Taxi Driver is an action movie without any action. It is a suspense thriller without any suspense. It is a love story without any love story. Michael Winner lead the way with his vigilante epic Death Wish and Scorcese cashed in on it with this sub par effort. De Niro imitates Charles Bronson and fails. Only Charles Bronson can pull off these vigilante roles with passion and he has a better moustache. De Niro tries hard to copy his mentor Bronson but just doesn't make the grade. De Niro's moustache looks fake and unconvincing in this. Scorcese's movie does not have half the style and shock value as Michael Winner's Death Wish. The performances here are lazy. The camera-work is not as good as Death Wish. The camera shot of Bickle's tablets fizzing in water was lifted from a Michael Winner documentary in which he is filmed eating a burger ( no ketchup) as the camera hones in on the burger on his plate.
A word of advice, Scorcese: Leave the big city angst stories to Michael Winner, the true captain of street realism...