Robert De Niro is outstanding in this dark and gritty depiction of former marine "Travis Bickle". He spends his time, alone, driving his cab at night then watching seedy movies during the day. This relentless cycle is broken when he takes a shine to "Betsy" (Cybill Shepherd), a campaign worker for a would be US Presidential candidate. There is a glimmer of hope for him, as she agrees to go out with him for a movie - but when he takes her to his usual haunt for a Swedish film that perhaps wasn't quite Ingmar Bergman, he ends up back at square one. Simultaneously, he takes a more protective interest in the young "iris" (Jodie Foster) - a teenage hooker who is being used abused by her pimp, and to that end he acquires some firearms with which he is perfectly proficient, and so finally starts to see a purpose for his hitherto rather rudderness existence. Director Martin Scorsese and veteran scorer Bernard Hermann have created a wonderfully convincing and evocative scenario emphasising the seediness of a night time New York in which De Niro is able to thrive as few other actors could. He exudes a sense of helplessness but also of decency; he has integrity almost in spite of the indifference of his city, his peers - and by the end, I was firmly in his corner. If you can see it up on a big screen, then do so - it lends a great deal to this wonderfully atmospheric and potent piece of cinema.
