just watched on criterion. certainly edgy material for the time. today the same movie is an action film with the dad having a particular set of skills which dont involve calvinist beliefs. this does start to edge over into that as the movie progresses. oddly theres three star wars visual references. i was wondering if that was a dig at where hollywood was head or just an inside joke. schrader who wrote taxi driver wrote and directed this. didnt think it was particularly good. ill lean towards the unsatisfied reviews. guessing pauline kael wouldnt have thought much of taken either. guess she was hoping he would be seduced by the dark side but in the end he was just her father.
Pauline Kael of The New Yorker was negative, explaining that Taxi Driver worked because "the protagonist, Travis Bickle, had a fear and hatred of sex so feverishly sensual that we experienced his tensions, his explosiveness. But in Hardcore, Jake feels no lust, so there's no enticement—and no contest. The Dutch Reformation Church has won the battle for his soul before the film's first frame." She added, "there something a little batty about the way Jake strides through hell swinging his fists, like a Calvinist John Wayne."[10]Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times called the film "strong but finally disappointing stuff", explaining, "Quite apart from the plot concoctions that leave reality so far behind, the exasperation of Hardcore is that the confrontation has never quite come off. The daughter, whose feelings are presumably crucial to an understanding of the story, is never more than a cipher and a symbol."[11] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post called it "absorbing but unsatisfying", finding that the reconciliation at the end "violates too much of what we've been led to believe".
I've always been disturbed enough by the plot that I've never watched the movie. Off topic I guess but I did like Blue Coller and thought American Gigalo was ok and I haven't seen all the films Schrader has directed but of what I have seen, those are the only two I like. His output feels a bit self-consciously dark to me. I think Taxi Driver is good but film buffs seem to love it a lot more than I do and I think I like it more for Marty's direction and the acting than the script.
that voiceover guy is about the most frightening element certainly by modern standards. so much of it is from scotts pov and other than a middle-aged midwestern protestants idea of california casual attire there isnt much beyond his impotent rage. the daughter is essentially absent and her motivations quickly dispensed with.
been a while since ive seen taxi driver or american gigolo which had been recently rebooted as a series and just canceled by showtime.
interesting that warren beatty was attached at one point but thought he was too young for a teen daughter so he wanted it switched to a girlfriend. not sure how that would work or that he was the posterboy for hollywood libertine at that juncture.
- dave 11-23-2023 9:37 pm
just watched on criterion. certainly edgy material for the time. today the same movie is an action film with the dad having a particular set of skills which dont involve calvinist beliefs. this does start to edge over into that as the movie progresses. oddly theres three star wars visual references. i was wondering if that was a dig at where hollywood was head or just an inside joke. schrader who wrote taxi driver wrote and directed this. didnt think it was particularly good. ill lean towards the unsatisfied reviews. guessing pauline kael wouldnt have thought much of taken either. guess she was hoping he would be seduced by the dark side but in the end he was just her father.
- dave 11-23-2023 10:01 pm [add a comment]
I've always been disturbed enough by the plot that I've never watched the movie. Off topic I guess but I did like Blue Coller and thought American Gigalo was ok and I haven't seen all the films Schrader has directed but of what I have seen, those are the only two I like. His output feels a bit self-consciously dark to me. I think Taxi Driver is good but film buffs seem to love it a lot more than I do and I think I like it more for Marty's direction and the acting than the script.
- steve 11-24-2023 12:06 am [add a comment]
that voiceover guy is about the most frightening element certainly by modern standards. so much of it is from scotts pov and other than a middle-aged midwestern protestants idea of california casual attire there isnt much beyond his impotent rage. the daughter is essentially absent and her motivations quickly dispensed with.
been a while since ive seen taxi driver or american gigolo which had been recently rebooted as a series and just canceled by showtime.
- dave 11-24-2023 12:38 pm [add a comment]
interesting that warren beatty was attached at one point but thought he was too young for a teen daughter so he wanted it switched to a girlfriend. not sure how that would work or that he was the posterboy for hollywood libertine at that juncture.
- dave 11-24-2023 12:40 pm [add a comment]