Roger Ebert was not a movie critic who was easily impressed. The Pulitzer Prize winner did not dole out praise recklessly, so when he called Martin Scorsese’s drama Taxi Driver a “masterpiece” and a “brilliant nightmare,” he meant it. And those words came from his 1976 review of the film, not a retrospective quote influenced by decades of praise from film fans. He also recognized Robert De Niro’s generational performance from the first watch, and beginning November 1, you can appreciate Taxi Driver once more when it arrives on Paramount+.
Nominated for four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Supporting Actress (Jodie Foster), Taxi Driver was a critical and box office hit, perfectly capturing the moral ambiguity that marked the social turmoil of the 1970s, set against a gritty New York City backdrop. The film is still controversial, with its stark depiction of violence, and storyline that features Foster’s character, a twelve-year-old prostitute whom De Niro’s character befriends. In his review of the film, Ebert praised the film’s emotional nuance:
The film’s a masterpiece of suggestive characterization; Scorsese’s style selects details that evoke emotions, and that’s the effect he wants. The performances are odd and compelling: He goes for moments from his actors, rather than slowly developed characters. It’s as if the required emotions were written in the margins of their scripts: Give me anger, fear, dread.
The film tells the story of a Vietnam veteran Travis Bickle (De Niro), who struggles to maintain healthy relationships with anyone, and finds himself increasingly isolated and paranoid. After failing to win over a beautiful campaign worker (Cybill Shepherd), Bickle finds himself on a dark, violent path that ends in tragedy. Ebert praised De Niro’s performance, saying it is “as good as Brando at suggesting emotions even while veiling them from us.”
De Niro and Scorsese Films, and Where to Find Them
Amazingly, Taxi Driver isn’t even the best film from the collaboration of Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese. That title goes to Raging Bull, but all ten feature films the duo have made together are worth watching. Here are the ten films, and where they can be streamed (all correct at the time of writing).
- Mean Streets (1973) – Harvey Keitel plays an ambitious Italian mobster trying to make a name for himself, while De Niro plays his impulsive, angry friend who constantly gets in trouble. It marked the first collaboration of the film icons. Now streaming on Hoopla.
- Taxi Driver (1976) – Streaming on Paramount+ November 1.
- New York, New York (1977) – One of Scorsese’s rare misfires, the film is a World War II-era musical starring Liza Minnelli and De Niro as a jazz musician. Not currently streaming.
- Raging Bull (1980) – De Niro won an Oscar for Best Actor playing real-life boxer Jake LaMotta in Scorsese’s back-and-white masterpiece. It also won the Oscar for Best Film Editing. Currently streaming on Max, Prime Video, and Freevee.
- The King of Comedy (1983) – Jerry Lewis gives a surprisingly dramatic performance as a talk show host kidnapped by a delusional fan (De Niro). Currently streaming on Prime Video and Plex.
- Goodfellas (1990) – Scorsese’s mobster epic is based on the real life story of Henry Hill, played by Ray Liotta, with De Niro playing his partner, James Conway. Joe Pesci won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Streaming on Max on November 1.
- Cape Fear (1991) – A remake of the 1962 classic, De Niro plays Max Cady, a convicted rapist who is paroled and stalks the family of the lawyer who failed to keep hm out of prison. De Niro earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination. Currently streaming on AMC+.
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- Casino (1995) – Sharon Stone earned a Best Actress nomination playing the wife of De Niro’s Ace Rothstein, a mobster in the Las Vegas casino scene of the 1970s and 1980s. Currently streaming on Tubi.
- The Irishman (2019) – In his first film for Netflix, Scorsese directs the true story of Frank Sheeran (De Niro), a mob hitman who claimed he killed Jimmy Hoffa. The film earned ten Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. Currently streaming on Netflix.
- Killers of the Flower Moon (2023) – Based on true events, De Niro earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination as a businessman at the center of an investigation of the murders of Native Americans who owned valuable oil fields in 1920s Oklahoma. Currently streaming on Apple TV+.
- Release Date
- February 9, 1976
- Director
- Martin Scorsese
- Runtime
- 113