Taxi Driver
Movie, 1976, The '70s, Set in New York at night
Taxi Driver is #5 of 26 in release order and #5 of 26 in chronological order in the Martin Scorsese.
The story
Suffering from insomnia, disturbed loner Travis Bickle takes a job as a New York City cabbie, haunting the streets nightly, growing increasingly detached from reality as he dreams of cleaning up the filthy city.
Taxi Driver recap
Taxi Driver (1976) follows Travis Bickle, a lonely Vietnam veteran driving a night cab in New York, as he comes apart and sets out to clean up the streets. Martin Scorsese directs from Paul Schrader's script, and Robert De Niro plays Travis, an insomniac who keeps a diary and spends his breaks in porn theaters. He asks out Betsy (Cybill Shepherd), a worker on Senator Charles Palantine's presidential campaign, then ruins their second date by taking her to a dirty movie. Rejected, he turns his loneliness into a mission. He trains his body, buys four handguns from a dealer named Easy Andy, rigs a sliding gun in his sleeve, and practices in the mirror. He meets Iris (Jodie Foster), a 12-year-old prostitute controlled by the pimp Sport (Harvey Keitel), and tries to persuade her to go home. With his head shaved into a mohawk, he goes to a Palantine rally to kill the senator. Bernard Herrmann wrote his last score for it. As Scorsese's fifth feature, it follows Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and precedes New York, New York.
Taxi Driver ending explained
Taxi Driver ends with Travis, chased off from the Palantine rally by the Secret Service, going to Iris's brothel instead and killing Sport, the building's manager and a Mafia client in a bloody shootout. Badly wounded and out of bullets, he mimes shooting himself as the police arrive. Newspapers hail him as a hero, and Iris's parents write to thank him. Back driving, he picks up Betsy, refuses her fare and drives off, though a glance in the mirror suggests nothing has changed inside him.
Post-credits scenes
No. Taxi Driver has no mid- or post-credits scene.
Where to watch Taxi Driver
Taxi Driver is streaming on Apple TV and Tubi in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 8.2/10, Rotten Tomatoes 89%
Where it fits
- Release order: after Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, before New York, New York.
- Chronological order: after Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, before New York, New York.
Cast
- Robert De Niro as Travis Bickle
- Jodie Foster as Iris
- Cybill Shepherd as Betsy
- Harvey Keitel as Sport
- Peter Boyle as Wizard
- Leonard Harris as Charles Palantine
- Albert Brooks as Tom
- Diahnne Abbott as Concession Girl
- Frank Adu as Angry Black Man
- Victor Argo as Melio
- Gino Ardito as Policeman at Rally
- Garth Avery as Iris' Friend
Directed by Martin Scorsese.