Taxi (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, Gisele Bündchen

3 wins & 7 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:

woman | united states of america | usa | driving a car | car | 

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Taglines:

He's armed, but she's dangerous.

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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

Country:

USA France

Language:

English Portuguese Spanish

Release Date:

6 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 USA:

$12,029,832, 10 October 2004

Gross USA:

$36,879,320

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$69,372,109

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox, 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

The bad team drove BMWs, said taxi was customized.

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Goofs

SPOILER. When the robbers get trapped on the freeway segment, one of the robbers fires at Belle, Washburn and the Lieutenant. Two of the rounds hit the cab's windshield and leave definite holes. Shortly thereafter, as Washburn is driving Belle to the hospital, the bullet holes in the windshield disappear and reappear depending on the shot.

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Quotes

Washburn: [pulls out his badge] See this? This is a badge! It means your not allowed to *scream* at me!
Belle: [takes the badge] Ah Ah Ah.
Washburn: [tries to get badge back] Come on now. Give it back.
[goes to grab badge and ends up flipping over, then stands up with a gun pulled out]
Washburn: Hand it over cabbie!
Belle: Whoa, man! Be cool!
Washburn: Be cool? I had to flip and pull this out of my ankle holster! Now gimme that and shush!
[goes to grab badge, he doesn't get it and Belle gets the gun too]
Washburn: Ah!
Belle: Ha. Yeah! How do you like me to point it at ...

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Crazy Credits

Outtakes are shown during the closing credits

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Connections

Referenced in The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon: Jada Pinkett Smith/Dane DeHaan/Rita Ora (2017)

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Soundtracks

Pass the Courvoisier (Part II)
Written by Sean 'Diddy' Combs (as Sean Combs), Jermaine Denny, Bernard Edwards, Q-Tip (as Kamaal Fareed), Dinco D. (as James Jackson), Ali Shaheed Muhammad (as Muhammad Ali Shaheed Jones), Dominick Lamb, Sandy Linzer, Denny Randell, Nile Rodgers, Phife Dawg (as Malik Taylor), Mystikal (as Michael Tyler), Jamal Woolard, Chad Hugo (as Charles Hugo), Pharrell Williams and Busta Rhymes (as Trevor Smith)
Performed by Busta Rhymes featuring Sean 'Diddy' Combs (as P. Diddy) and Pharrell Williams
Busta Rhymes courtesy of J. Records
P. Diddy courtesy of Bad Boy Entertainment
Pharrell Williams courtesy of Virgin Records

User Reviews

See the french Original

And just to make sure you get it right, i'll repeat myself: Watch the french original! It's so much better, starting from the cast (Queen Latifah is so miscast, it hurts), straight to the story/humor (it's just not right)!

The best scene (to at least have one good comment about the title) is a scene involving Jennifer Esposito and Gisele Bündchen, which had a sort of "tension" to it, that was funny and sexy at the same time! Funnily (or maybe not so funny) enough, with the cast here, you'd be excused to think that it would be more often like that. But it's neither funny nor sexy ... and I'm not talking at the same time, at all! Except the one scene ... but that doesn't save the movie, which just is too long and has nothing going for it! It's a shame, because Jimmy Fallon can be funny, but here he's just annoying!