Taxi, 1998.
Directed by Gérard Pirès.
Starring Samy Naceri, Frédéric Diefenthal, Marion Cotillard, Manuela Gourary and Bernard Farcy.
SYNOPSIS:
A former pizza delivery man begins a new career as a taxi driver and gets embroiled in a police war against German bank robbers by helping a police officer who cannot drive.
Making its Blu-ray debut thanks to Second Sight Films, Taxi is a 1998 car chase thriller written by Luc Besson (The Transporter/Taken) and featuring some spectacular motor action filmed on the streets of Marseille. In it, Samy Naceri plays Daniel Morales, a celebrated pizza delivery moped rider who holds the company records for delivery times and knows how to handle a vehicle. Daniel quits his job at Pizza Joe’s and becomes a taxi driver, his souped-up Peugeot, cheeky banter and heavy gas pedal foot making his new venture a success.
In the meantime, underperforming cop Émilien Coutant-Kerbalec (Frédéric Diefenthal) is on the trail of a gang of German bank robbers known as The Mercedes Gang, but Emilien doesn’t have a driving licence and has failed his test several times. After Daniel gives Emilien a lift, unaware he is a cop, and drives around the city at over 100 mph, Emilien offers Daniel a deal – help him to catch The Mercedes Gang and he’ll wipe Daniel’s speeding offences from his record. Cue lots of car chases and buddy movie hilarity.
As well as being an action thriller, Taxi is a film that brings together several different genres such as buddy cop comedy, crime drama and even a little bit of romance and, surprisingly, it all comes together to make a highly entertaining movie that you just don’t expect French cinema to produce, especially being from the late 1990s. Much of the energy comes from the performances of the main cast, with Samy Naceri and Émilien Coutant-Kerbalec working together brilliantly whether they’re arguing with each other or both on the same side. They’re also both terrifically funny and charismatic individually, making their interactions with the secondary characters that keep cropping up just as amusing, especially Daniel’s interactions with the German bank robbers. The Dark Knight Rises star Marion Cotillard plays Daniel’s girlfriend Lilly and although her character doesn’t really have a great deal to do Cotillard’s presence is felt and is memorable, making it easy to see why she managed to crack Hollywood.
But it is cinematographer Jean-Pierre Sauvaire who is the real star of Taxi as the car chases ramp up the excitement factor. There are no CGI effects or unbelievable stunt trickery as Daniel races around Marseille in his juiced-up car, just plain old fast driving and simple but effective camerawork that allows you to see all of the action without having to keep up with quick edits. How Daniel and Emilien finally corner The Mercedes Gang is also framed excellently and is a shot that has been emulated in several other films since.
The Blu-ray transfer is pretty decent, with quite a high level of detail and clarity, but it doesn’t have the glossy feel of the Fast & Furious films – which isn’t necessarily a bad thing – and extras include a trailer and standard ‘Making of’ featurette. So anybody with a taste for high-octane car chases and buddy cop humour will find plenty to enjoy with Taxi, and don’t worry about having to read the English subtitles as by the time the final car chase comes around you don’t really need to worry about what’s being said.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★/ Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Chris Ward
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Originally published November 10, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
