Great style but somewhat disappointing ending

Rating: Null/10 (20 July 2001)

Marty Scorsese is one of my favorite directors, and I really like his work on this film. It's very stylistic (without trying to be) and loaded with fresh, creative camera shots. The score is haunting and reinforces the loneliness of DeNiro's character. The supporting cast of Kitel, Foster and Shepard are perfect, with each portraying his or her character with authenticity and feeling. From the humor of Bickle pouring whiskey on his bread, to his pitiful attempts to win back Betsy, to the abrupt and chilling debut of the mohawk haircut indicating that he's definitely gone insane, this film runs the emotional spectrum. I only have one gripe.
I'm disappointed that Bickles doesn't die after the shoot out. For him to go from killing the pimp, the john and the brothel manager (and then, unsuccessfully, himself after he sprays the manager's brain on the wall) to his reintegration to society and subsequent rise to hero status for saving the young prostitue was just too unbelievable and contrived. He was willing to heroically and tragically sacrafice himself to save Iris, but this gets erroded by the fact that he lives and suffers seemingly no consequences for his actions. He would most certainly be locked up tight in a mental facility after the carnage he inflicts on those people, even if they were scum. Also, I don't feel his return to a normal life was a dream or a fantasy in Bickle's mind because they show him with a noticeable scar on his neck and favoring his right arm from the gun shot wounds.
All in all, a great film that could have had a stronger impact with a slightly different ending.