This week’s FBF goes to the 1976 Martin Scorsese film, Taxi Driver. Yes, we’re falling waaaaaaaay back, kids.
Now a lot of the younger generation today really know Robert DeNiro as probably Dirty Grandpa or Meet the Parents but back in the day he was a true actor; an actor who you would’ve never thought would sell out and make “movies” like Dirty Grandpa. DeNiro, just coming off his Oscar nominated turn in The Godfather Part II stars as Travis Bickle, a lonely and socially awkward man who tries to fit into the “real world.” In the end, he is only more and more disgusted by it and slowly drifts off into his own world. He gets to the point to where he shaves his head into a mohawk and plots an assassination of a politician.
Travis makes friends with a prostitute played by Jodie Foster (when she was 14!), and wants to release her from her pimp, named Sport played by Harvey Keitel. Travis decides to go after Sport when his plans for the assassination of a politician get spoiled and ends in a very violent and ugly confrontation (Tarantino probably got the idea of True Romance from this movie). The first time Travis meets Sport is one funniest/best scenes in the movie. Just two actors acting and bouncing shit off each other. And Keitel also looks cool in his tank top.
In the 70’s the storytelling of films was alot different than the movies of today. Now everything is a bit more fast paced and right to the point (nothing wrong with that at all, gotta keep up with the ADD world), but Taxi Driver takes its time with Bickle. It stays with him as he slowly drifts away from reality. It’s more of a character study and a slow burn but it does have a good payoff in the end.
Scorsese, more known for his gangster movies today, really made a name for himself with this movie at the time, he really captured the violence and understood the character really well (with the help of writer Paul Schrader) to where he had small little scenes of Bickle either sitting in a theater or talking to himself in front of a mirror. Scorsese and everyone involved really nailed it in this movie.
So, if you’ve never seen this film before and are a big fan of movies, this should be one you watch even just to remember how great of an actor Robert DeNiro was in his early days.
Catch Mando on Twitter at @manbat33 when he’s not co-hosting the @TalentedSlacker podcast!