Film Reviews

Taxi

• Rating:
• Director: Tim Story.
• Starring: Queen Latifah, Jimmy Fallon, Henry Simmons, Jennifer Esposito, Gisele Bundchen, Ann-Margret.
• Details: US/ 97 mins / (12PG).

Further proof (if any were needed) that American remakes are nearly always a bad idea, Taxi is a reworking of a cult 1998 Luc Besson film. Jimmy Fallon, a huge star in the US thanks to his stint on Saturday Night Live, plays Washburn, a New York cop who has lost his licence as a result of his constant flouting of the traffic laws. One unlikely encounter later and he's in the back of a taxi driven by Belle (Queen Latifah). The very definition of an unorthodox cabbie, Belle is determined to become a Nascar driver and has tailored her vehicle accordingly. Cue plenty of entirely predictable, devastatingly unfunny antics as the pair go about tracking down a gang of bank robbers led by - wait for it! - supermodel Gisele Bundchen. With a premise as wantonly outlandish as this, you'd expect Taxi to compensate on lovable characters and a sharp edged sense of humour. That it ignores both, while making the car chases look so pedestrian - the highpoint of Besson's over hyped original - means that Taxi makes for a wasted trip.

Review by Garreth Murphy