Taxi (I) (2004)

A mouthy and feisty taxicab driver has hot tips for a green and inept cop set on solving a string of New York City bank robberies committed by a quartet of female Brazilian bank robbers.

Director:

Tim Story

Writers:

Luc Besson (earlier screenplay), Robert Ben Garant (screenplay),

Stars:

Queen Latifah, Jimmy Fallon, Henry Simmons

1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Queen Latifah	...	Isabelle 'Belle' Williams
Jimmy Fallon	...	Andrew 'Andy' Washburn
Henry Simmons	...	Jesse
Jennifer Esposito	...	Lt. Marta Robbins
Gisele Bündchen	...	Vanessa
Ana Cristina de Oliveira	...	Redhead
Ingrid Vandebosch	...	Third Robber
Magali Amadei	...	Fourth Robber
Ann-Margret	...	Mrs. Washburn
Christian Kane	...	Agent Mullins
Boris McGiver	...	Franklin
Adrian Martinez	...	Brasilian Man
Joe Lisi	...	Mr. Scalia
Bryna Weiss	...	Mrs. Scalia
GQ	...	Stopwatch Messenger

Storyline

Belle Williams is a speed demon. Flying through the streets of New York in her tricked-out taxi, she's earned a rep as New York's fastest cabbie. But driving a hack is only a pit stop for her real dream: Belle wants to be a race car champion. And she's well on her way--until she's derailed by overeager cop Andy Washburn, whose undercover skills are matched only by his total ineptitude behind the wheel. Washburn, whose lack of vehicular skills has landed him in the precinct doghouse, is hot on the heels of a gang of beautiful Brazilian bank robbers, led by Vanessa, their cold, calculating--and leggy--leader. To nab the evasive crooks, drivers license-less Washburn convinces Belle to team up with him to pursue Vanessa and crew. Belle has carte blanche to drive at any speed and break any law. The car-less cop and speed-demon cabbie--New York's unlikeliest partners-- begin a high-speed game of cat and mouse with the robbers. That is, if Belle and Washburn don't end up killing each other ...

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Plot Keywords:

brazilian | undercover | bank robbery | driving | taxi | 

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Taglines:

Take a Ride on the Wild Side.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language, sensuality and brief violence

Details

Official Sites:

20th Century Fox [us] Official site [br]

Country:

USA France

Language:

English Portuguese Spanish

Release Date:

8 October 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

New York Taxi

Filming Locations:

23rd St. & Madison Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$25,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$130,592 (South Africa) (14 January 2005)

Gross:

$36,609,966 (USA) (18 February 2005)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation, EuropaCorp, Robert Simonds Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min 104 min (extended)

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Kevin Bray was originally set to direct, but dropped out.

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Goofs

Near the beginning when Belle gets in her taxi for the first time, she turns her taxi light on, then it cuts to a different view of the car where the light is no longer on, she buckles up, starts the car, and flips the light on again.

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Quotes

Washburn: I had to flip and pull this out of my ankly holster... now gimme that and shush.

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Crazy Credits

Outtakes are shown during the closing credits

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Connections

Features CTR (1999)

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Soundtracks

"Cherry Burn"
Written by Tim Boland, Sam Retzer & Matthew Schoenfeld
Performed by Tim Boland
Courtesy of Echo Park Music & Sound

User Reviews

Wait For Video

When he loses his driver's license, an inept police officer (Jimmy Fallon) must rely on the reckless driving skills of a taxi driver who would prefer to drive race cars (Queen Latifah) to help him stop a gang of beautiful Brazilian bank robbers.

The premise sounds like one of those film that are really stupid yet still kind of funny. However, it didn't really work out like that. The film wasn't a complete dud it just wasn't very funny. I wasn't surprised this film didn't do so well in theaters. The previews were weak and a lot of people don't like Jimmy Fallon. I only saw it because of Queen Latifah. Unfortunately, she couldn't save the movie. The film was just too childish and unoriginal. There were a few funny lines yet nothing that really made me laugh a lot. It starts off well but then it starts to drag and it feels a lot longer than 97 minutes. I even had low expectations because the critics murdered the movie but it was not very funny.

Queen Latifah is easily the best thing about Taxi. She has a lot of charisma and she makes the film watchable. Jimmy Fallon was okay, nothing special. Sometimes he tried too hard to be funny though. For his first movie, he sure made a poor choice. He could have a successful movie career, he just needs to make better choices. Gisele Bundchen is very beautiful and she did a good job but her role didn't exactly call for a lot of acting talent. The direction was uneven and Tim Story isn't a very good director. Also, the chemistry between Latifah and Fallon just wasn't there and they didn't seem right for each other. This comedy just suffered from a weak script and weak direction. It ended up being a below average comedy and it wasn't worth watching in theaters. In the end, if you're interested in watching Taxi wait for video. Rating 4/10