34. Taxi Driver (1976) Movie Review: Man, Mr. Focker Used to Be Awesome

When I get old, most people will not be able to look back at my life and say: he really stopped caring. My past is hidden away in a pre-Internet wasteland. Sure, there's some friends that might be able to tell a story, but most of those stories begin "we were so fucked up that…" No so for some celebrities, whose past work shines so strong you must wonder what the hell happened?

    Taxi Driver is the story of a driver of a taxi. That driver, Travis Bickle (De Niro), wants a good life. We watch him try for the beautiful girl. We watch his life and mind crumble. We watch him contemplate killing a politician and switching instead to rescue an underage prostitute. It's violent, unflinching, and amazing to behold.

    Does everyone kiss De Niro's ass all day long for his acting in this movie? Cause they should. Watching this performance is like watching a miracle happen. I dislike putting down his most recent comedic performances because I feel people should do what they want in life, but Bad Grandpa looks so much like crap when compared to Taxi Driver.

    Coupled with this iconic performance, Martin Scorsese shoots the hell out of this. The dark and dirty streets of 1970s New York are captured in all their wet, scummy glory. Throw in the also amazing Jodie Foster as the young prostitute (she was 12 at the time, the same year as Freaky Friday) and Cybil Shepard as the erudite object of Bickle's obsession, and Taxi Driver just lives.

    Watch this somehow. It's dark and depressing but a masterpiece of dark and depressing.