CAUTION- This film may give cab drivers newfound energy.

Rating: 9/10 (20 August 2009)

I watched Taxi Driver for the first time last night after hearing and reading lots of great things about the film. Even my personal favorite director, Quentin Tarantino, listed it as one of his favorites. So naturally, I sat down to watch this movie with very high expectations. And even with my high expectations, this film did not disappoint.
But how can a film directed by one of the all-time great directors in Martin Scorsese, and starring arguably the greatest actor ever in Robert de Niro possibly be a letdown? The answer to that question is- it virtually can't. Now, I'm the type of person that generally hates dramas and finds them quite boring. Prior to watching this, the only one of the few dramas I had watched and enjoyed recently was Gran Torino. Little did I know that there was a film this awe-inspiring out there to be seen.
The story centers itself around a war veteran named Travis who works as a cab driver in New York. Coming back from the sights and environment of the war he had fought in, Travis immediately sees the differences in the war and New York, noticing all of the disrespect and sleaze that lives in the city and the people who inhabit it. The everyday sights of these terrible things slowly drive Travis to the edge, and he decides to take action, all while trying to save a young prostitute named Iris (who is brilliantly depicted by a young and promising Jodie Foster) from the degenerate pimps that own and control her life.
I won't say anything other that that, but I will say that Taxi Driver is one of those rare films that after the credits begin to roll, you realize that your outlook on things has been forever changed.
9/10