TAXI (1998)
A Film Review
Copyright Dragan Antulov 2004
TAXI, 1998 French action comedy directed by Gerard Pires, was
something of a mixed blessing for world's filmophiles. Its commercial
success - confirmed by two sequels and upcoming Hollywood
remake - has shown that French cinema can get rid of its arthouse
image and break Hollywood's monopoly on genre blockbusters. On
the other hand, it became apparent that Luc Besson, film's writer and
producer, achieved that by simply extracting Hollywood formula.
The most refreshing thing about TAXI is its setting. France is one of
the most centralised nations of Europe and, consequently, most of
French movies take place in Paris. On the other hand, there are many
French cities with long, glorious history and whose citizens nurture
their very own cultural identity. One of those cities is Mediterranean
port of Marseilles where pizza delivery boy Daniel Morales (played
by Sami Naceri) dreams of becoming great racetrack driver. The
closest thing to that is a job of taxi driver, which Daniel takes not
thinking much about his lack of proper driving licence. On the other
side of town young police inspector Emilien Coutant-Kerbalec
(played by Frederic Diefenthal) works in the unit led by
Commissioner Gilbert (played by Bernard Farcy). They are faced
with serious problem - Marseilles banks are targeted by "Mercedes
Gang", group of German robbers who use their fast cars and superb
driving skills to get away. Emilien meets Daniel and, being
impressed with his driving skills, decides to recruit him into his unit
in exchange for driving license.
If judged solely on its action scenes, TAXI is a masterpiece. Car
chases are spectacular and breath-taking while Marseilles locations
provide nice-looking background. Some of those scenes are even in
the same league with Michael Mann's HEAT. Unfortunately, those
scenes are loosely tied with the plot and character that leaves much to
be desired. Humour is often weak, characters are underwritten, some
subplots are unnecessary and film is often plagued by overacting.
Some of that is result of Hollywood cliches, but Besson and Pires also
had to inject some European political agenda. For example, villains
are clearly identified as Germans (although they remain faceless
throughout much of the film), but TAXI tries very hard not to
undermine the grand project of new European unity. New character
of German policewoman (played by Emma Sjoberg) is added to the
film in order to symbolise spirit of Franco-German friendship
through (unconvincing) romance with Emilien. Fans of Luc Besson
and those who appreciate good car chases are going to love TAXI.
Those who want something more from movie are going to be
disappointed.
RATING: 4/10 (+)
Review written on September 21st 2004
Dragan Antulov a.k.a. Drax
http://film.purger.com - Filmske recenzije na hrvatskom/Movie Reviews in
Croatian
http://www.ofcs.org - Online Film Critics Society
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