Taxi
You won’t believe me, but I have just seen the best movie of the year. It’s called Taxi and it stars Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon. Let me tell you—this thing has Oscar® written all over it. Her Highness, Ms. Latifah, and Mr. Fallon play a mismatched duo who have to stop a band of sexy bank robbers. He’s a New York City cop who cannot drive, and she’s the taxi driver who gets stuck chauffeuring him around. This movie is HE-larious. What a novel idea to have a black girl and a white guy together in a movie as opposites. I hope I see more films like this. And the sexual chemistry between the leads is quite palpable. You can’t wait to see these two “get it on.” Sadly, they don’t, but they do bring the jokes. I can’t tell you how funny it is when I hear jokes about how white people can’t do this and black people can’t do that. Mr. Fallon is the bomb as a hyper white guy, and Her Highness, Ms. Latifah, is Hys-TER-ical as his sassy, know-it-all sidekick. I spent the whole film wondering why I’d never seen these types of characters on screen before. I hope I see more of them soon. Screen legend Ann Margaret puts in the performance of a lifetime as Mr. Fallon’s mother. Again, why no one has ever thought to bring the nagging, overbearing drunken mother type to the screen before is beyond me. Director Tim Story has fashioned the best action film of the millennium. New York looks so real in the movie—nothing like Toronto. The visual effects are slammin’, and the script is full of clever dialogue and unexpected plot twists. Model Gisele Bundchen could be the next Meryl Streep as the head of the sexy bank robbers. She’s got natural dramatic timing and crack action skills. I cannot WAIT for her next film.
Sadly, if the film has any weakness, it’s got to be the fact that Her Highness, Ms. Latifah, and Mr. Fallon do not hook up at the end. Her Highness, Ms. Latifah, has her own “fiancé,” and Mr. Fallon is given a romance with his superior officer, played by Jennifer Esposito, an actress of moderate good looks and talent. This was the part of the film I found to be quite unbelievable. I mean, nobody ever dates his or her boss in real life, why drag out such fantasy on screen when the rest of the film is so grounded in reality?
In the end, however, Taxi is a ride worth taking. Take the entire family-this IS the feel-good “mismatched buddies forced to team up and bring down a sexy group of bank robbers” comedy of the year, or any year for that matter!
****** To the distributors/marketers of this film: you may use any quote from this review for your ads only if you put a note stating that every word of this review is dripping with sarcasm and contempt. Your film is a piece of crap, and Jennifer Esposito is talented and ¡MUY CALIENTE! Any attempt to pass these quotes off as a legitimate review will bring legal action for defamation of character. Thank you very much. ******
Submitted 21 October 04. Posted 22 October 04.
