Chicago Cab (1997)

There is more to this story than this review lets on. It reflects all different facets of society over one drivers shift. He starts out it seems as a cold, ignorant man. But his character ... See full summary »

Directors:

Mary Cybulski, John Tintori

Writers:

Will Kern (play), Will Kern

Stars:

Paul Dillon, Tim Gamble, Olivia Trevino

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Paul Dillon	...	Cab Driver
Tim Gamble	...	Religious Father
Olivia Trevino	...	4-Year Old Girl
Moira Sinise	...	Religious Mother (as Moira Harris)
Rana Khan	...	Pakistani
Darryl Theirse	...	X-Hat
Michael Ironside	...	Al
Shanesia Davis-Williams	...	Lawyer
Laura Kellogg Sandberg	...	Bug-Eyed Woman
Phillip Edward Van Lear	...	Father-to-Be (as Phillip Van Lear)
Ora Jones	...	Pregnant Woman
Michael Shannon	...	Crack Head
Shulie Cowen	...	Stoner Girl
Andrew Rothenberg	...	Homer
Tracy Letts	...	Sports Fan

Storyline

There is more to this story than this review lets on. It reflects all different facets of society over one drivers shift. He starts out it seems as a cold, ignorant man. But his character develops as the different people of Chicago come & go. His character shows through when he tells a woman the truth about one of the huys he has in his cab. One highlight of this is the amount of cameos by well known faces who seem to be doing this film for the craic. The cab driver reacts well to the madness surrounding him & you can almost share his tiredness at the end of the shift. Crackheads, stoners, posh randy lawyers, irate Pakistanis and the high & lows of the working day are dealt with in this low budget film.

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Plot Keywords:

hospital | lawyer | rape | pakistani | chicago illinois | 

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Taglines:

Do you dare pay the fare?

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive strong language, and for sexual content

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 October 1998 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hellcab

Filming Locations:

Chicago, Illinois, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$4,485 (USA) (2 October 1998)

Gross:

$4,485 (USA) (2 October 1998)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Child's Will Productions, GFT Entertainment, New Crime Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

The original play, "Hellcab", opened in Chicago in 1992.

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Quotes

Cab Driver: Why does everything have to be so fucked up?!

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Crazy Credits

for Holly Wantuch

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Connections

References The Wizard of Oz (1939)

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Soundtracks

"Radio City Suicide"
Performed by The Grifters
Written by Stanley Gallimore, Tripp Lamkins, Dave Shouse, Scott Taylor
Published by Course It's Real Music
The Grifters appear courtesy of Sub Pop Records

User Reviews

A fine piece of work

I just finished watching "Chicago Cab" on cable and was moved to post some comments. Though Paul Dillon gets third bill, this is his show.

Better known to most of the world for his hilarious role in the first "Austin Powers" flick, Dillon gets an opportunity to flex his muscles as a fully rounded character actor. Over the course of his very long day (from sun-up to sundown and then some), he picks up a plenitude of fares ranging from sanctimonious (his first fare of the day is a rather smug Born Again couple and their little daughter on their way to church at the very ungodly hour of six in the morning) to the frightening (too many to mention). All are played with conviction by a large number of talented actors ranging from the virtually unknown to very familiar faces in cameos.

One of these well-known faces is Gillian Anderson. It's fun to see her as a foul-mouthed Southside girl; a nice break from her prim, proper Agent Scully persona. Also worthy of mention is Reggie Hayes as Dillon's final fare of the day. The dialogue between the two men is touching and provides a necessary respite from the overall dire (yet entertaining) tone of the film.

I hope Will Kern graces the screen with another effort. This was adapted from his play of the same name and I'd like to see more from him.

As a final note, the video title, "Hellcab," is perhaps misleading. This movie is in no way related to the early CD-ROM game "Hellcab" created by comic artist Pepe Moreno.