[ This review was originally published here ]

I know few films in which the main character lives in a bigger contradiction. "Taxi Driver" depicts Travis Bickle, a man who desperately wants to wipe out everyone around him as much as he wants to embrace them. The action takes place in the New York suburbs and is somewhat of an exercise in style that works just right from beginning to end.

Hollywood has a history of interesting director-actor relationships of which the Scorsese/De Niro association is perhaps one of the most remarkable, starting with "Mean Streets", having its climax precisely with "Taxi Driver" only three years later and going on through "Raging Bull", "Goodfellas", "Cape Fear" and "Casino". Looking at these titles, you get my point when I say it is a remarkable association, don't you?

"Taxi Driver" is arguably the pinnacle in Scorsese's career, too. It's hard to make such claim for such a talented and fruitful director, but this movie is that good. It works on so many levels and is so real and down to earth that every bit of action strikes you really hard and a lot of it you can actually relate to.

In one of the most famous scenes ever, Travis says: "You talkin' to me? Well, I'm the only one here." And that was too true. He really was alone.