Review: Taxi Driver

Directed by: Martin Scorsese

Written by: Paul Schrader

Starring: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Albert Brooks, Harvey Keitel, Leonard Harris, Peter Boyle

Rating: [5/5]

When one spends enough time alone, they can begin to find more comfort in their inner thoughts than with other human beings to the point where everyone else becomes an “other.” Not a person but a symbol of society allowing the brain rot to look at others with a negative connotation like a scourge on why they remain unhappy and detached from society. Taxi Driver dives very deeply into the mind of someone going through this very experience and it provides quite the chilling experience in the way it has impacted many and sheds light on a population who very much align with the troubled man we follow in this harrowing tale. 

Working as a taxi driver through the streets of New York, Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) rarely interacts with others unless they sit in the back of his cab. He therefore spends plenty of time writing his thoughts and feelings about the world in a journal where he thinks society is running towards complete and utter moral decay leading him to feel like he must do something about it. 

Not many films deliver a level of ick when watching it than Taxi Driver as it takes us through the very disconcerting mind of Travis Bickle. Any amount of time spent with him would qualify as too much as he barely lives in the real world. He lives in this mental headspace where he serves as the valiant hero of a place going completely downhill for various reasons one could infer outside of what he specifically mentions. Even so, we are forced to spend this time with him as he drives through the streets and seeks to build himself through these delusions of grandeur as we navigate what lies in reality and what sits squarely in his imaginative and dark mind. 

Utilizing the idea of events in this feature not being real may feel like a cop-out to some, but it undoubtedly rings true with the kind of individual we have on our hands here. Keeping touch with reality already comes as quite the challenge for him and as he serves as one incredibly unreliable narrator, some of the things we see must be taken some grains of salt. However, if everything plays out precisely as Bickle would like us to believe looking at this narrative straight on, it still manages to craft something impeccably pieced together and wholly admirable because of the composition. 

Essays can be and have been written about Bickle as a character and what he represents in our society from many different avenues, but one that deserves focus is his relationship with women throughout this feature. From the 12-year-old prostitute he encounters in Iris (Jodie Foster) or his fascination with Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), the campaign worker, he obviously does not interact much with them on a regular basis. Therefore we get two versions of Bickle operating where he puts on this persona of someone charming that scores a date with Betsy but then he reveals his true self and interests causing a reaction of disgust. He then takes that opportunity to not reflect on himself but use the moment of a shame reaction to attack others. He either serves as the hero of their lives or admonishes them for serving as the moral decay of society. Something chilling to write about because of how this continues to grow in the minds of lonely men who see rejection from women as the onus to do some horrific actions. All of this falls under the type of ideal he wants to build for himself and how he continually fails to attain it. 

As mentioned before, his delusion of grandeur allows him to build this cowboy persona where he gets the girl and brings society back to its heyday. He finds it an easy task he should be able to complete and must. These small rejections where reality fails to meet his lofty goals hit him hard to show the truth of his identity. The contrast between the guy looking in the mirror asking a hypothetical bad guy if they’re talking to him versus what we actually see proves quite stark and it makes for a damning condemnation of this little man not getting his way. 

Paul Schrader’s script for this feature is absolutely divine in the manner in which it displays Travis outright through his disturbing ways. Seeing his later films like First Reformed and many others demonstrates he definitely has a motif and a way he enjoys writing these isolated characters and this remains his magnum opus in the way he crafts this chilling character and what makes him so disturbing to watch. He combines this with the exceptional direction of Martin Scorsese in creating these sensational visual cues and presentation of these moments for Bickle. No one captures New York City like Scorsese and the way he displays this seedy city where Bickle sees nothing but hedonism really closes in on him. From the porn theaters Bickle visits and the pimps prostituting underage girls, it makes you feel like you need to take a shower after watching this feature. With that said, it still carries this mysticism around it displaying why New York serves as the perfect place to have this feature take place. 

One cannot speak about this feature without bowing at the alter of Robert De Niro and how he goes all in on his portrayal of Bickle. De Niro brings the tough guy persona to the forefront of this feature having already portrayed and won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II. He makes the jumps from portraying a real gangster in the context of the story to such a wannabe here and does so in a spectacular manner. De Niro allows this emptiness to exist in Bickle’s eyes that continually bring chills down the spine demonstrating how far gone this man’s mind is through this isolation. Truly a powerhouse performance and certainly contends for the very best of his incredibly illustrious career. 

In support, he has some wonderful performances by the women of the feature in both Jodie Foster and Cybill Shepherd. Foster jumps in and portrays quite the layered performance from this young girl as she exists as a symbol more so than a person. Even with that, she makes so much use of what she gets given here and at such a young age heavily impresses. Then we have Cybill Shepherd, who truly took the 70s by storm in the way she brought a sex appeal and helps display why Betsy presents such an attraction to Travis. She becomes the apple of his eye but also the demonstration of how he truly does not know how women operate. She does wonders with just simple looks that completely tell the story of how she feels as a character. 

A transcendent film across the board, Taxi Driver unfortunately contains quite the staying power with what Bickle represents and how the advent of social media has continued to create this level of isolation that continues to to ferment individuals very much in keeping with Bickle’s line of thinking. The feature therefore keeps its incredible impact and the way it all comes together makes for such an uncomfortable but enriching viewing experience. Every aspect of the feature comes together to create this complete nightmare of a situation all framed under the fantasy of a deranged mind. Quite the trip that successfully makes you uncomfortable and icky in a way to never lets you forget what you just watched. A towering masterpiece that has rightfully maintained quite a reputation.