Monday
October 11, 2004
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Fallon, Latifah backfire in mindless 'Taxi'
By Marshall W. Lee
Daily Arts Writer
Though utterly inconsistent and forgettable as
{a feature film, "Barbershop" director Tim Story's
"Taxi" may one day serve as a treasure trove of film
tri ia. For instance:
What movie featured both Brazilian supermodel
,Gisele Bundchen and NASCAR superstar Jeff Gor-
ddn?
What is the first film to reference online com-
munity Friendster?
How about: Where was the last known sighting
of former "Saturday Night Live" heartthrob and
"Weekend Update" co-anchor Jimmy Fallon?
A bland and brainless full-tilt remake of Luc
Besson's 1998 French hit of the same name, "Taxi"
is an aggressively absurd action-comedy filled with
Courtesy of New Market
Chris Cooper and staff contemplate a flat-tax proposal.
itty Cooper drives
timely'Silver City'
flashy car chases, scantily-clad
supermodels, obnoxious mug-
ging and a handful of laughs.
The opening sequence - which
apparently serves .to establish
that the movie has absolutely no
intention of existing within the
Taxi
At Showcase,
Quality 16
20th Century Fox
By Zach Borden
Daily Arts Writer
realm of any conceivable reality - is a montage
6f aerobatic stunts performed by a sleek and svelte
bicycle courier flying over garbage trucks and rac-
'lng through department stores in Midtown Man-
hattan. The only problem is that in about the time
it takes to toast a bagel, the biker casually defies
every basic law of physics. Oh yeah, and it's Queen
)atifah. From here, the "plot" unfolds as follows:
Belle (Latifah) is a New York loudmouth with a
lyunky boyfriend and a dead-end job. By day, she
works as Midtown's fastest courier, but after dark,
shp retires to her own private body-shop where she
ppends long nights and several hundred thousand
dollars (who knew bike messengers did so well?)
transforming her Crown Victoria into a super-
charged yellow taxicab with enough secret buttons
and toggles to make even Batman say "Damn girl!
That's fly!" After all, if Belle can't earn a reputa-
tion as the fastest cabbie in NYC, how is she ever
going to fulfill her dream of driving on the NAS-
CAR circuit? Enter Andy Washburn (Jimmy Fal-
lin), an overzealous and incompetent New York
City cop whose total inability to drive, shoot or
intimidate makes Leslie Nielsen's "Naked Gun"
character look like Serpico.
Walking down 53rd Street, Washburn is sum-
moned to a nearby bank robbery, but without wheels
of his own, he is forced to hail a taxi driven by
you-know-who. As buddy action-flick regulations
dictate, the delightfully mismatched duo spend the
next,6O<minutes bristling at each other's foibles and
quirks as they race up, down and across Manhattan
in pursuit of the thieves, who turn out to be a quar-
Courtesy of 20th Century Fox
I'm American, honey. Our names don't mean shit.
tet of leggy Brazilian supermodels led by Gisele
Bundchen in her first feature-film role.
In their defense, Fallon and Latifah do seem to
have a legitimate, natural chemistry that might
work well in a half-hour sitcom or perhaps a Honda
commercial - Latifah's street-smart motor mouth
riffing off Fallon's eager idiot - but too often in
"Taxi" they are interrupted by the lumbering absur-
dity of the film. When Washburn and Belle aren't
cracking wise with clever wordplay (Latifah drolly
gives Fallon the name "Ace Dumbtura"), the movie
relies heavily on car crashes and bizarrely miscon-
ceived supporting characters to fill the comic void.
The most disturbing and unfunny of these appear-
ances is without a doubt that of film great Ann-Mar-
gret ("Bye, Bye Birdie") as Washburn's alcoholic
mother, a role apparently functioning to affirm the
filmmaker's assumption that nothing is quite so
hilarious as the sight of a drunken senior citizen.
Perhaps the film's most grievous error is its mis-
use and mistreatment of the consistently likable
Queen Latifah, an actress who can be a dynamic,
invigorating performer ("Living Out Loud," "Chi-
cago") but too often settles for roles in insultingly
stupid comedies like "Bringing Down the House."
As Belle, her natural charm and energy are stalled
in the muck of stagnant and stereotyped dialogue,
and as the childish Fallon becomes increasingly
irritating and obnoxious, Latifah slips into com-
MOV IE R EV IE W * *
In such a crucial election year, it
seems that every other week there is
another political movie released. Yet for
all the biased narratives available, there
haven't been any fictional ones that take
a look at the nexus
of power, politics Silver City
and money.
Leave it to indie At the
auteur John Sayles, Michigan Theater
who is no stranger New Market
to political movies
("City Of Hope," "Matewan") to probe
these topics in an intelligent, compelling
(and made-up) narrative. Sayles's latest
film, "Silver City," is his most scathing
yet, while highlighting the skills he's
known for: great writing and complex
characters.
Focusing in on the fictitious 2004
Colorado gubernatorial election, the
film focuses its attention on candidate
Richard "Dickie" Pilager (Chris Coo-
per), who might as well be a clone of
President Bush. The son of a powerful
Colorado senator (Michael Murphy),
Dickie comes across as likable, but has
no idea what he's talking about once the
TelePrompTer is turned off.
At the filming of one of his TV spots,
Dickie hooks a fishing rod onto a corpse
in a lake. Dickie's driven campaign
manager (Richard Dreyfuss) hires pri-
vate investigator Danny O'Brien (Danny
Huston) to look into the death.
Sayles seems to thrive on movies with
messages, and "Silver City" has plenty
of them. The implications the gifted
writer-director make are not incredible
revelations, but they are bold insights
into the role greed plays in government
and how even the most unqualified can-
didates can get into office when the right
people back them up.
Like his contemporary Robert Alt-
man, Sayles is known for intertwining
stories between many characters. Even
though much of the narrative focuses on
the mystery behind the dead body, Say-
les puts too many characters into play as
well as several subplots behind them.
Despite the plot becoming over-
stuffed, it is still engrossing. Sayles lay-
ers the drama, politics and wit, with just
the right pinch of each. The film does
end on a somewhat anti-climatic note
and some viewers may become frus-
trated that not every loose end is tied up.
The ensemble cast is excellent. Drey-
fuss is intense as wry campaign man-
ager Chuck Raven, while Cooper is the
perfect Bush-doppelganger. The enig-
matic actor is not doing a mere imita-
tion; he really nails the art of stuttering,
ludicrous sentences and odd physical
movements.
"Silver City" is a rewarding and even
brave film, but due to its wandering and
long-winded nature, it does not rank as
one of Sayles's absolute best. Topped
with a fabulous cast and intricate script,
this movie will be most appreciated by
those with an interest in politics, as well
as those who enjoy stories and charac-
ters that go against the norm.
Do that one more time and I'll make you watch
"Bringing Down the House" again.
edy cruise control, quipping and grinning without
interest or joy.
After a half-dozen or so car chases, "Taxi"
ends abruptly and anti-climatically, as if Story
had simply grown tired of watching Fallon lazily
coast through his scenes and decided to throw in
the towel without bothering to wait around for the
tired plot to come to a conclusion. It's as if he sim-
ply walked out on his own film in disgust, some_
thing many viewers of "Taxi" may be tempted to
do as well.
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