Taxi Driver (1976)
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Plot

The film stars Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle, a lonely and depressed ex-marine, who has clearly begun to lose his grip on reality. Which is evident by him sending mail to his parents and telling them about a job of his that he does not really have and that he cannot give them his address, due to the secrecy of his new government job. In search of a job Travis Bickle goes out and finds a job as a night time taxi driver in New York, he finds this favorable because of his insomnia. Working long hours, transporting any and all passengers, and when he is not working he often frequents porn theaters. In the film Travis Bickle often gives voice overs while writing in a journal, and explains that he was honorably discharged from the Marines, given the time in which this film is set, it is insinuated that he was a Vietnam Veteran.

A man on the edge

Travis Bickle then spots Betsy, played by Cybill Shepard, who is a volunteer for New York Senator Charles Palantine's campaign for President. Betsy is a very idealistic, strong woman, who fits perfectly into Palantine's campaign which stands on a platform of social change. Travis Bickle is seen watching Betsy while she is at work from his Taxi. In an attempt to talk with Betsy, Travis Bickle goes in and attempts to volunteer, after admitting to Betsy that the real reason he went into the office was to talk to her, she agree's to go out for coffee and pie with him, and they also set up a date to go see a movie. On the date Travis takes Betsy to go see a Swedish pornographic film, Betsy quickly is freaked out and leaves the theater, angry and disgusted that Travis took her to see such a film. This helps to further showcase that Travis is entirely out of touch with reality. Travis tries to win Betsy back with an apologetic phone call, and flowers, she ignores him entirely. This causes Travis to go even further off the deep end, and he becomes even more depressed and increasingly sociopathic.

His job as a Taxi Driver gives him an even more increasingly dire outlook on life, because he witnesses all the seedy things that happen in New York firsthand. Travis then internalizes his frustration and begins to work out intensely, and buys several guns from a man called "Easy Andy". Travis also goes on to create several devices that would aid him in his new weapons purchases, such as a sliding holster, and watches himself with his new weapons in his mirror. One night while Travis is in a convenience store he comes across a robbery, he then shoots and kills the robber.

While Travis is out he comes across Iris, played by Jodie Foster, a child prostitute who attempts to flee from her pimp in Travis's taxi. Travis does not drive away like she wanted, and her pimp Sport, played by Harvey Keitel, drags he out of the taxi. Travis then visits Iris while she is on shift and pays her for her time, all he does though is talk with Iris, and try and convince her to quit. She is apprehensive and after talking for awhile Travis invites her to have breakfast the next morning. Travis then makes it his mission to rescue Iris from her pimp and get her back home with her parents.  Travis then give her a fair amount of money and a letter telling her that he soon will no longer be alive.

A bloody and horrific ending.

Travis shaves his head into a mohawk, and attends a Charles Palantine rally and attempts to assassinate the presidential candidate, but is thwarted by Palantine's body guards, and Bickle escapes. Travis then returns to his apartment, then goes and confronts Sport, they get in a squabble, and Travis shoots Sport, and then goes into Sport's brothel and shoots the place up, while he is killing several members of the brothel, he is shot in the neck. After being shot several times Travis stops in Iris's room, bleeding on the floor he attempts to shoot himself in the head, he is all out of bullets and instead, rests on the couch and waits for the police to arrive. The film contains an epilogue, where Travis is recovering. Travis receives a letter from Iris's parents in which they thank him for saving her daughter, and we see newspaper clippings that laud Bickle as a local hero. Bickle after he fully recovers goes back to working at his job as a Taxi Driver, and he picks up Betsy. Betsy mentions the notoriety that Travis has gained, and he denies him being a hero at all. He drops Betsy off and doesn't charge her for her fare, while he is driving away he hears a sharp, high pitched noise which jerks his attention to an unseen object in his rear view mirror.

	Robert De Niro	Travis Bickle
	Jodie Foster	Iris
	Cybill Shepherd	Betsy
	Harvey Keitel	Matthew 'Sport' Higgins
	Peter Boyle	Wizard
	Albert Brooks	Tom
	Leonard Harris	Charles Palantine
	Diahnne Abbott	Concession Girl
	Frank Adu	Angry Black Man
	Gino Ardito	Policeman at Rally
See Full Credits

blog	The Month In Movies UK: May 2011	jackanderson
review	Spectacular, lead by great cinematography (5 out of 5)	ZanzibarBreeze
review	Disgustingly Beautiful (5 out of 5)	mylifeforAiur
review	It’s Called Hell’s Kitchen For A Reason (5 out of 5)	HandsomeDead
blog	The Many (Frightening) Faces of Robert De Niro	WesleyFenlon
blog	Poster Problem: Crazy 4 Cult: 4 by Mike Mitchell	CaseyMalone
review	Interesting but overrated (3 out of 5)	xync4
review	Taxi Driver (4 out of 5)	Adrenaline

Name	Taxi Driver
US Release	Feb. 8, 1976
UK Release
AUS Release
Runtime	114
Language(s)	Add a new language English
Genre(s)	Add a new genre Drama Thriller
Theme(s)	Add a new theme urban extreme violence obsession paranoia
Rating	R
Alias(es)

	Combat Shock
	Falling Down
	One Hour Photo
	The Machinist
	Observe and Report
	Hobo with a Shotgun
	Drive

Domestic	$28,262,574
Foreign	+$0

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Taxi Driver (1976)
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