You Spend Too Much Of Your Time Waiting

Rating: 5/10 (28 November 2010)

There's more than a few things about this film that are worth liking - and liking very much. Two names stand out in particular as I assess the strong points in this: Robert Deniro and Martin Scorsese. Deniro was excellent as Travis Bickle, a Vietnam vet who ends up driving a taxi because he can't sleep at night. This isn't your typical "Vietnam vet goes crazy" movie. Aside from the fact that Travis identifies himself as a former Marine when he applies for the taxi driver's position nothing connects him to Vietnam. We assume that as an ex-Marine, discharged in 1973, he must have seen action in Vietnam, but the war there plays no role of significance in this. Essentially the entire movie is about Bickle's slow descent. He starts out as a relatively normal character, a guy who decides to make some money off his insomnia. Why not? Deniro was quite convincing as Bickle, depicting a decline that was believably gradual. Part of the credit, of course, has to go to director Scorsese as well. His direction helped build the character. He also managed to paint a totally convincing picture of a New York City in complete decay - a grimy city filled with pimps and prostitutes and drug pushers, with little apparently to redeem it. It's not a very flattering portrayal of the city that never sleeps, but it does paint a picture of what happens while the city isn't sleeping! So credit to both Deniro and Scorsese for doing effectively what they set out to do - which was painting a convincing and realistic picture.
But there are problems here as well. Frankly speaking, while you watch Bickle's slow evolution (and admire Deniro's portrayal of it) you also spend most of this movie waiting. You wait for something to happen. And you wait. And then you wait some more. Yes, Scorsese made a hard-edged, realistic film. The problem is that reality doesn't always need to be portrayed. An hour goes by in this and as much as you're admiring Deniro, you're also wondering where this is going, because nothing much seems to be happening. Sure, Travis got obsessed with Becky (Cybill Shepherd) and he ended up blowing it. It seemed a couple of times as if something was going to happen as a result of that but nothing really does. Things get somewhat more interesting with the introduction of Iris (Jodie Foster) - a child prostitute Travis meets and sets out to save. That relationship is somewhat interesting, but still you wait. It's like you're a dog and Scorsese is holding a bone just beyond your reach. You know it's there and you want it, but you can't get it. The movie becomes frustrating after a while, because you know it's leading to something but there seems surprisingly little meat to chew on. Adding to the frustration is a musical score that itself seemed lifeless and inappropriate to the setting.
There's something of a blood bath in the last 15 minutes or so - almost an explosion after waiting so long for what we knew was coming. There's also a pretty effective twist at the end, as Scorsese manages to get the viewer reflecting on what's normal and what's not. The whole movie seems to depict Travis sliding farther and farther out of touch with reality; the ultimate irony of the movie is that he ends up as something of a hero - which is unsettling, frankly. That was interesting and thought provoking.
Still, a movie that left me waiting for so long loses a bit. Non stop action is not required. Far from it. But it often felt as if there were no point at all to this; little that it was building to. I have to say that I think it's over-rated, but certainly worth watching.