DVP's CLASSIC MOVIES WEBSITE: TAXI DRIVER (1976)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Brief Movie Synopsis [courtesy of Amazon.com]:

Paul Schrader's gritty screenplay depicts the ever-deepening alienation of Vietnam veteran Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro),
a psychotic cab driver who obsessively cruises
the mean streets of Manhattan.
Nominated for 4 Academy Awards,
including Best Picture of 1976.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

REVIEWS:

"Travis Bickle—the collaboration of writer, director, and actor—remains fascinating throughout, probably because he is more than a character who is certifiably insane. He is a projection of all our nightmares of urban alienation, refined in a performance that is effective as much for what [Robert] De Niro does as for how he does it. Acting of this sort is rare in films. It is a display of talent, which one gets in the theater, as well as a demonstration of behavior, which is what movies usually offer."

-- Excerpt from The New York Times; February 8, 1976

ROGER EBERT'S 1976 REVIEW:

"[Director Martin] Scorsese's style selects details that evoke emotions, and that's the effect he wants. The performances are odd and compelling: He goes
for moments from his actors, rather than slowly developed characters. It's as if the required emotions were written in the margins of their scripts. Give me anger, fear, dread."

-- Roger Ebert; 1976

ROGER EBERT'S 2004 REVIEW:

SISKEL & EBERT: