Existentialist's Top Ten

Rating: Null/10 (12 August 2019)

I doubt the 2-hours is a favorite of NYC's chamber of commerce. The grime and sin fairly drip off the screen-- location filming on the streets being a big, big plus. Poor cabbie Bickle, he's trapped in his own isolation and can't decide whether to break out or celebrate. He'd like to connect with high class Betsy, but he's too self enclosed to realize his porn movies are an insult to her. Then too, he'd like to affirm conventional values by rescuing little Iris from life on the street. But she's too much in love with her pimp, a part of the city filth which he takes care of with an angry gun. Hailed now by the cops and public as a hero, he nevertheless falls back into isolation as passengers come and go from his private cab. Still, he's done his bit to clean up the city. Now he can drive at ease within his self-enclosure. Perhaps the moral is we're each condemned to live inside our own cab. Or is his problem more simply an instance of urban neglect.
Heckuva job by Scorsese and Co. that holds fast audience interest even minus a storyline. Instead, it's an account of one man's struggle inside an alienating environment, and actor DeNiro triumphs in a darn difficult role. In fact, he's in about every scene, so there's plenty of chances to fail.
No need to go on; 1000+ reviews says it all. Nonetheless, I nominate the movie for existentialism's hall of movie fame. Plus next time I take a cab, I'll darn sure be nice to the driver.