The City that Never Sleeps

Today's movie recommendation is an older Martin Scorcese film from 1976 entitled Taxi Driver (it was actually the fifth film he directed not including the documentaries he made). This film (picture below, which I don't own) stars a young Robert De Niro who plays Travis Bickle, an insomniac who takes on a night shift taxi driver job to fill the long hours of the night. During these night shifts Travis witnesses the filth and crime of New York nightlife. These sinful sightings (especially the prostitution) disgust Travis tremendously. Travis cannot help but see loneliness all over the city and is saddened by this especially because he is so lonely, himself. Travis ends up forming a crush on a political worker and also becomes interested in helping a child prostitute (played by the young Jodi Foster).

This movie definitely has a charm to it with the old taxi cabs, the type writers, the cheap movie concession prices, the old soda bottles, etc. Scorcese really captures the seedy, dirty side of New York but was still able to make each shot beautiful. The dramatic lighting and the repetitive jazz intros within scenes gives the movie a Film Noir feel. De Niro is no short of brilliant in this role. Travis isn't necessarily the most likeable character, but De Niro's talents really makes the viewer care about him. Travis shows good character development from the beginning to the end as both a hero and a villain.

Fun facts:
- Robert De Niro was nominated for an Oscar, a BAFTA and a Golden Globe for this role.
- This movie was nominated for 4 Academy Awards including Best Picture in 1976.
- This film inspired John Hinckley Jr.'s attempt to assassinate President Ronald Reagan in 1981. He was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He reasoned that he was trying to impress Jodi Foster's character. During his attempt, Hinckley Jr. shaved his hair into a Mohawk like Travis did at the end of the movie. His attorney showed this movie to the jury in his defense.
- The final shoot out at the end of the movie was considered to be too graphic that the movie was rated worse than R. To obtain an R rating, Scorcese desaturated the colors in that scene. Scorcese ended up liking this desaturated look better and was very happy with the results.
- Jodi Foster was required to complete a psychological test before she was casted to ensure that her role in the film wouldn't psychologically scar her.
- The friend of the child prostitute in the movie was an actual child prostitute who was there to help Jodi get more into her character.
- There's talk that Robert De Niro and Martin Scorcese will start filming a sequel to this movie sometime this year.

This movie is rated R for graphic violence, drug use, language, and sexual references. This is not a movie I would recommend for anyone under 17.

Trailer for the movie