Slick, flashy film, a semi-remake of Luc Besson's "Taxi" from 1998, here Americanized as an urban action-comedy. Queen Latifah plays smart-mouthed cabbie with a souped-up vehicle in New York City who inadvertently partners with stumble bum cop Jimmy Fallon to crack a major crime case. Film should have relied more on Latifah's natural sass and less on Fallon's white-bread, dim-witted act (race is a constant punchline in the script, and Fallon is just there as Exhibit A). Jennifer Esposito is wonderful as a no-nonsense police lieutenant, Ann-Margret is a stitch as Fallon's tippling mother, and John Sierros (Broadway actor shamefully credited as 'Fat Cop') shines as a bamboozled police officer, but what happened to Queen Latifah? She gets a few good cracks in, but there's no character here for her to play; she sticks to her sarcastic persona and puts everyone down, but her role is depressingly one-dimensional. Comedy has a fast pace, impressive cinematography (although the swooping crane shots in traffic get repetitive) and some good car chases, but the screenplay needed an overhaul. ** from ****
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moonspinner5523 October 2005
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treakle_197816 August 2020You can tell queen and Jimmy had fun making this movie. I've never seen the original movies but this was funny at times although some of the comedy was a bit bland. Still definitely check it out for yourself and don't Pat attention to the haters.
Tim Treakle -
jiujitsu_jesus9 December 2004TAXI is the American remake of the quirky 1998 Luc Besson comedy. While the core of the film is still oriented around fast cars, hot chicks and zany humour, the film's light-hearted French comedic ambiance has been replaced with a dirtier, more strident, and somewhat more serious American action-comedy feel, which, although it tries hard, doesn't quite translate as it should. Queen Latifah leads as Belle Williams, a taxi driver who runs a souped-up Ford around the meaner streets of the city. Jimmy Fallon plays the unco New York cop who lands in her cab one day in pursuit of a bunch of foxy Brazilian bank robbers. Together, they muddle through car-crashes, shoot-outs and weirdly-decorated apartments to bring crooks to justice. While the plot sounds like a good premise for a decent comedy, the film is sorely lacking in script composition. The one-liners are crap, the jokes feel forced, and the script, which alternates between taking itself too seriously and sheer stupidity, does no justice whatsoever to the energetic and talented cast. A major disappointment from what looked to be a brilliant film. Someone should remake it in six more years - with a little more skill, I hope.
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dbborroughs11 October 2004This is the American version of the French Taxi films and it suffers in comparison.
I'm not kidding when I say that this a remake of the three French films since although the film is mainly a poor remake of the the first film, it lifts sequences from the second and third films.
Its a mess, a real mess. I'm a huge huge fan of the French films, and for me there was no real point in my seeing this since anything that worked came from the originals.
Why did they bother? They changed the sex of the lead (though the Queen is excellent), combined others and rewrote the cops mother to the point of stupidness. They lost any sense of timing and connection...they should have started from the ground up.
Its not the painfully awful film that some reviews made it out to be, but it is a waste of time. If you can find the originals and watch those. That should take you the better part of 5 hours and in the end you will not feel as though you've wasted your life.
3 out of 10. -
kosmasp9 May 2007And just to make sure you get it right, i'll repeat myself: Watch the french original! It's so much better, starting from the cast (Queen Latifah is so miscast, it hurts), straight to the story/humor (it's just not right)!
The best scene (to at least have one good comment about the title) is a scene involving Jennifer Esposito and Gisele Bündchen, which had a sort of "tension" to it, that was funny and sexy at the same time! Funnily (or maybe not so funny) enough, with the cast here, you'd be excused to think that it would be more often like that. But it's neither funny nor sexy ... and I'm not talking at the same time, at all! Except the one scene ... but that doesn't save the movie, which just is too long and has nothing going for it! It's a shame, because Jimmy Fallon can be funny, but here he's just annoying! -
Like Roger Ebert once stated about a movie, I'll use his words to state this one: (This movie)isn't even the bottom of the barrel, it doesn't even scrape the bottom of barrel. It doesn't even deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence as barrels. When you have a movie where Queen Latifah is the most experienced actor in the film, you know you are in trouble.The debut appearances of Giselle and Jimmy were awful. They did not get into character and made no connection between the the audience and the movie. It surprised me that such amateur actors in the movie business (jimmy is quite good in Saturday night live) were given such large roles. Also, the whole plot was ludicrous. Brazilian supermodels robbing a bank? In New York? Yeah, right. BS. Still wanna watch this movie? Watch it at your own risk!
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Avoid this film at all costs! This is just a very very cheap remake of the french movie by the same name. Being a big fan of that Taxi, I was intrigued to see what the Yanks had done with it. Watching it was painful, the only reason I watched till the end was to see how low they were going to go with this film.
Queen Latifa's performance is the only redeeming aspect of this film, who does her best with an unoriginal, crass and cheap script. The best scenes are direct rip-offs of the original film and Jimmy Fallon is wasted on a one dimensional ridiculous character.
Go see the original french film and give this one as wide a berth as you can! -
rizzo_tha_rat3 January 2005My God. Having watched all of the three french prequels I have to say I was a bit skeptical right from the start, but this is pure madness. Being able to shred such a great movie as "Taxi" into this horrible excuse for a film is beyond me. There are no humor, no story, no acting and no action. It lacks everything you want from this types of films. I have to say that if you were able to see the whole movie in 5 minutes, it wouldn't be worth the time. If you're thinking of seeing this movie and haven't seen the french one, please, do yourself a favor. See the original.
And if any of your friends claims that this movie is worth seeing, he or she is not. Believe in me. -
bjtk-210 August 2007Come on, guys, this movie wasn't so terrible! There's no point comparing it to Besson's first two Taxi films because that's not what it's about - sure, 8 out of 10 of its content is straight from the other movies but just get past that and it's a not bad, quite sweet, sometimes funny, car-chase romp. Fallon and Latifah work pretty well on screen and the script's fairly lively. OK, the plot may be contrived and obvious but it's still worth a watch. Too many reviews on here are written by people comparing everything to past film moments - just because Star Wars was (alledgely) a great Sci-Fi movie, doesn't mean that every Sci-Fi afterwards isn't worth watching. So don't write this one off straight away - just don't take it too seriously and watch it on a lazy, rainy Saturday afternoon.
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Unfortunately, this was a film that looked better in the trailers when the film was being promoted, prior to its commercial release. We just caught with it thanks to a borrowed DVD and we are so happy we didn't have to pay to watch this "masterpiece".
The film, directed by Tim Story, is a rip off. It is loosely based on much better French comedies created by Luc Besson. This one here gives credit to Ben Garant as its writer.
"Taxi" is an exercise in how not to make movies. The casting of Jimmy Fallon for the main role was a poor judgment by whoever decided to give the comedian this plum job; he is not even funny! The opening sequence involving the undercover operation where Washburn fakes to be a Cuban mafioso, shows that Mr. Fallon needs to reconsider future appearances in films.
Queen Latifah, a charismatic performer, is handicapped having to act next to an inane actor that ruins some of her best moments in the movie. Ann Margaret must have been feeling desperate when she agreed to appear in this film as the lush mother of Washburn, but on second thought, it makes perfect sense that with a son like him, drinking is the only way this woman can go through life.
Watch it at your own risk! -
angelawinder6 June 2020If you can employ willful suspension of disbelief, you will find this to be a hilarious movie!! Follow fiesty 'Belle as she embarks on her new job as a taxi driver and meets officer Washburn. Plenty of room for a sequel!!
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claudio_carvalho2 November 2005A stupid detective that is not a good driver uses a terrific taxi driver, who dreams to be a pilot of racing car, to chase four bank robbers in a BMW. With this simple story line, "Taxi" is a very silly movie, but I laughed a lot. The greatest attraction for me was certainly the debut of the Brazilian top model Gisele Bündchen as "actress". But indeed Queen Latifah and Jimmy Fallon carry this dumb, ridiculous and absurd story in a very funny way. Another funny situation for the Brazilian viewers is to hear Ana Cristina de Oliveira speaking Portuguese with a strong accent from Portugal as if she were Brazilian. I laughed a lot with her pronunciation in Portuguese, which sounds very funny for us. I totally disagree with comments like "the worst movie ever made", probably made by persons without sense of humor as commented by another IMDb user. "Austin Powers" movies, just as an example, are dumber and less funny than "Taxi". If the viewer does not have much expectation about this film, he or she may probably have a good time. My vote is six.
Title (Brazil): "Taxi" -
willyandre16 January 2005I'm tempted to just write "This movie sucks" and then go see the original again, but that wouldn't be very helpful to you guys. Here's why this movie sucks.
To sum up the movie, I steal from oshram-3 (One of the other comments) "The plot of Taxi follows Detective Washburn (Jimmy Fallon, making his debut as a movie lead) and bike-messenger-turned-cab-driver Belle (Queen Latifah) as they inadvertently get tangled up with one another and have to figure out who is ripping off a series of Manhattan banks and try to catch them. Rounding out the cast (no pun intended) are Jennifer Esposito (you might remember her from Spin City) as Washburn's lieutenant, Marta, and supermodel Gisele Bundchen as the head hot chick."
Luc Besson's action-comedy Taxi(1998) was a great movie, mostly due to decent acting, funny characters and social/cultural references. In this American remake, all that is gone.
The characters in themselves are severely less intricate than in Besson's original, and maybe the best of them all is gone. I am, of course, talking about the utterly insane police captain. Then again, of course the Americans would leave him out, since he's a parody of every single angry police chief in American movies. All that's left is Queen Latifah driving a taxi, and a cop that's just pathetic, and doesn't have that likable quality Frédéric Diefenthal had in the french version.
Also, the political correctness really shines through the gaps in this film. Every single strong character is a woman. The only guy in the entire core group of the movie is the awkward cop/disguise artist. The movie has been carefully constructed so it doesn't lash out at any particular groups in society, and by doing that, you lose the edge.
I see this movie as a blatant attempt to salvage careers and make some money on the fact that Americans don't like subtitles. It's also a classic example of what happens when you let lawyers and politically correct groups scare you out of doing things right. -
dragonwalker30 July 2009YES! This movie is a re-make of an original french movie Taxi, in case you didn't know and a pretty bad one. If you are too lazy to read subtitles, well then I guess you are better off with this us trashy version. If you are not, then get the original from 1998 with Samy Naceri and Peugeot. It is sooo much better.
The problem here is that for some reason, the bank gang just had to be a bunch of out of control Russian models. Yes! Beacouse that is going to happen! This movie is just an inch from these evil mafia walking around naked, it is hardly believable at all.
Plus, I am sorry, but Queen Latifah is not really convincing as a racer person and in to the car kind of a person.
Sorry, folks, I say you could just put less money into dubbing the original, than throwing them away for a poor try-out. I am NOT saying all this just because I am from Europe. -
christian12313 November 2004When he loses his driver's license, an inept police officer (Jimmy Fallon) must rely on the reckless driving skills of a taxi driver who would prefer to drive race cars (Queen Latifah) to help him stop a gang of beautiful Brazilian bank robbers.
The premise sounds like one of those film that are really stupid yet still kind of funny. However, it didn't really work out like that. The film wasn't a complete dud it just wasn't very funny. I wasn't surprised this film didn't do so well in theaters. The previews were weak and a lot of people don't like Jimmy Fallon. I only saw it because of Queen Latifah. Unfortunately, she couldn't save the movie. The film was just too childish and unoriginal. There were a few funny lines yet nothing that really made me laugh a lot. It starts off well but then it starts to drag and it feels a lot longer than 97 minutes. I even had low expectations because the critics murdered the movie but it was not very funny.
Queen Latifah is easily the best thing about Taxi. She has a lot of charisma and she makes the film watchable. Jimmy Fallon was okay, nothing special. Sometimes he tried too hard to be funny though. For his first movie, he sure made a poor choice. He could have a successful movie career, he just needs to make better choices. Gisele Bundchen is very beautiful and she did a good job but her role didn't exactly call for a lot of acting talent. The direction was uneven and Tim Story isn't a very good director. Also, the chemistry between Latifah and Fallon just wasn't there and they didn't seem right for each other. This comedy just suffered from a weak script and weak direction. It ended up being a below average comedy and it wasn't worth watching in theaters. In the end, if you're interested in watching Taxi wait for video. Rating 4/10 -
ma-cortes23 January 2007A foul-mouthed cabbie called Belle (a humorous Queen Latifa) join forces with a botcher , bungler cop called Andy (a newcomer Jimmy Fallon). She's the fastest taxi-woman with a perfect boyfriend (Henry Simmons). He's a complete inept behind the car and under skirts his alcoholic mother (a sympathetic Anne-Margret). They pursue a band of gorgeous Brazilian models robbers of banks led by Vanessa (Gisele Bundchen, ex-girlfriend of Leonardo DeCaprio), an explosive and leggy gal. When they are on the heels of the gang , the crook girls drive a speed demon pursued by the taxi in a fast and furious car race .
The film displays action ,comedy , intrigue , tongue-in-cheek and results to be quite entertaining . There are chases galore with impressive velocities . Almost all shots in which you see the taxi or other cars in the street, or car stunts performed in the streets, were really filmed in Los Angeles, not New York . It's a run-of-the-mill action-comedy film because from the beginning to the final the fast movement and amusement is nonstop . The laughters and chuckles are varied and giggles are based about diverse characters and differences among protagonists , but they are unlikeliest pals . The film is exciting and humorous at times but is also ridiculous and embarrassing . However , sometimes is fresh and diverting and on a couple of memorable occasions is hilarious . Lively and atmospheric music adjusted to action by Christophe Beck and colorful cinematography by Burberry . The movie was lavishly produced by Luc Besson (producer of the French Taxi I,II ,III..). The motion picture was regularly directed by Tin Story , though Kevin Bray was originally set to direct, but dropped out . It's a fun ride that will appeal to Queen Lafitah fans and action-comedy buffs . Rating : Below average . -
croatiansensation2918 February 2005Once again, this is a movie that really surprised me, as I was not expecting it to be much good at all.
Taxi is another cop buddy film, but this time with a twist. This film pits a feisty cab driver and a klutzy, nervous cop together to try to capture a band of robbers who are hitting various banks in New York City.
Though not up to par with other cop buddy films, this film is fun, and enjoyable. Some of the scenes are very funny, and the movie runs at a brisk pace. Plus, the Brazilian models are just incredible to look at.
For fans of the genre, you will not want to miss this one. Those looking for something with a little bit of substance, look elsewhere. -
harryemmott27 April 2006This film is one of the worst films i have ever seen rubbish acting and no action enough said i rented this film and it was not worth the money i spent, i would rather buy a chocolate fireguard than waste well earned money on a film like this. Why is this person a queen i know quite well she is not the queen of acting that is for sure. I also think she ruined scary movie 3 with her dreadful acting and dreadful characters. At least i had the option of turning this film off unlike at a cinema i would have to sit through this torture. My advice is always stick to originals with films like this the french one is a lot better. Please do not do any more cheesy films "Queen" Latifah.
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oshram-310 October 2004I'm actually old enough that when I hear the word 'Taxi' as a title I think first of the melancholy Harry Chapin song, a wonderful piece of music; maybe with a little reflection, I conjure up the seventies sitcom of the same name. Perhaps the makers of this new film were hoping for some of that association to rub off on people and lure them in, because if a movie is titled what it's really about, this one should have been called 'Chasing four hot chicks who can't speak English.'
The plot of Taxi follows Detective Washburn (Jimmy Fallon, making his debut as a movie lead) and bike-messenger-turned-cab-driver Belle (Queen Latifah) as they inadvertently get tangled up with one another and have to figure out who is ripping off a series of Manhattan banks and try to catch them. Rounding out the cast (no pun intended) are Jennifer Esposito (you might remember her from Spin City) as Washburn's lieutenant, Marta, and supermodel Gisele Bundchen as the head hot chick.
I knew I was in trouble when I saw 'based on a script by Luc Besson,' because, while I like some of Besson's material, he hasn't done a good movie since 'Fifth Element' and that was a while ago now. I haven't seen his version of this movie, but I'm betting it's nearly as maladroit as this one.
Much of the problem stems from the casting. Fallon, while a funny performer, is just out of place as a dorky, inept bumbler; it's as if he's trying to channel Inspector Clouseau half the time. Having him be a little green is one thing; but he's a walking mess, unable to do anything right, and it gets irritating quickly. Latifah, by contrast, is comfortable in her role, and she's a lot more enjoyable, but it's really hard to accept her as a bike messenger, especially after the lengthy stunt/title sequence they begin the movie with (one of the funniest gags in the movie, unintentionally of course, is watching a bike messenger do all this zany stuff and then having him pull off his helmet at the end of the sequence only to reveal Latifah. Come on, we're just not that naïve). Esposito isn't too bad, but she's only given the standard 'angry cop lieutenant' cliché to work with, and even she can't make it work (and she seems a tad young to be a lieutenant, but that's another story). Only two people are really right for their roles: Bundchen and Ann Margaret, who plays Fallon's lush of a mother. Her scenes are kept short and punchy, and she's really effective and funny. Bundchen doesn't have to do much but look good in incredibly brief outfits, sort of what she does for a living anyway, but she has screen presence and in her limited role she works well enough (and has inhumanly long legs, but that's beside the point). She has just enough sass to pull off the role.
Taxi has a few honest belly laughs, but by and large it's not really that good. The car chases are mildly exciting, but they aren't eye-popping like, say, Matrix 2, just your garden variety screaming around the streets of New York. Taxi isn't a very good film, but it isn't embarrassingly bad either. With some better casting (and some better writing, particularly on Fallon's character) the movie could have been a lot funnier. Pity it isn't. -
helen-dolby9 April 2005I don't know what you guys are talking about.... This was one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. If you're in the mood for a good laugh... then you HAVE to see this one!! Jimmy Fallon did a great job as the worst cop in history... and Queen Latifah was wicked funny!!! I nearly split my gut when Jimmy was trying to get out of his parking space with his mothers car!! Jeez... I can't even count the amount of times I cracked up laughing... my neighbors must have thought I was going crazy or something!!! Belle's boyfriend was H-O-T!! Made me want to be "Queen" for a day... that's for sure!!! I just think anyone that didn't like this movie is wound way to tight... it clearly was one of the films that you don't need to think about... just sit back and have a good laugh... it's what it's all about!!! Life is too short, after all... jeez.... get a grip!!
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If you want to see a movie for the only reason of getting glimpses of hot chicks and completely far-fetched car chases then "Taxi" would be your calling. However if you're looking for a film with any substance whatsoever then avoid this film like the plague. It's allegedly a comedy yet it lacks comedic performances. The only time anyone in the theater laughed was during the nitrous oxide scene and Ann Margaret's performance as Jimmy Fallon's mother. I swear that if you've seen one Queen Latifah movie you've seen them all. She is exactly the same in each and every one of them. She seems like a decent enough actress too which is why it's a shame that they need her to keep playing the same role over, and over, and over again. I'm sure she has some sort of acting range but I'm willing to say it's a safe bet that she'll never be able to utilize it. As for Jimmy Fallon, well he's basically the poor woman's Adam Sandler and I'm surprised as hell that he ever left SNL because I don't think he has what it takes to make it in Hollywood. Lastly, yes, Giselle Bundchen and Jennifer Esposito are hot but neither one can act to save their lives. This was a bad movie!
Final Lashing:
Movies: No way in hell!
DVD Purchase: You've got to be kidding me?!
Rental: If you say so. -
BrandtSponseller19 March 2005After five years of waiting, Belle Williams (Queen Latifah) is finally getting her hack license, and New York City had better watch out, because she makes the typical New York cabbie look like a driver's ed poster child. At the same time, Washburn (Jimmy Fallon), a bumbling New York City policeman, has just had his license taken away after totaling his third police car. When Washburn hears of a nearby bank robbery over his radio while walking a beat, he commandeers Belle's cab, and a new, extremely reckless partnership is born.
Surely, something bizarre is going on with the mainstream public opinion about this film as of this writing. While I can understand someone not thinking that Taxi is the best thing since sliced bread, it's unconscionable to give this film a 1 or 2. Anyone rating this film so low can't possibly be looking at the "whole picture", so to speak, or they must be watching with a ridiculous set of preconceptions/expectations.
When you rate a film, you have to consider the whole package, as an artwork. There's a lot more to it than whether you like the story or not, whether you thought it was funny or not, or whether you think it's realistic or not. For example, the cinematography in Taxi is incredible. Just the opening sequence alone, featuring "Belle" on a high speed, stunt-filled messenger bike ride through New York City makes the film worth a few points. The camera work and staging are stunning. There are all kinds of unique, subtle touches in the scene, like the shot of traffic where only the cabs are in color at first.
It seems that a lot of people don't like the film just because it's a remake of Gerard Pires' 1998 French film of the same name, or just because it's a Hollywood film, or just because they've changed the gender or dispositions of the characters, or because they're misunderstanding the idea of comedy and expecting realism. None of those facts make this an inherently bad film. The idea is that you're rating/reviewing a film, as an artwork, not making a political statement or rating cultural facts that have nothing to do with what's on the screen.
I disagree that fiction is necessarily making claims about how the actual world happens to be. Especially comedy cannot be just realistic and still be funny. To be comedy, something has to be absurd, exaggerated, made ironic, and so on. In general, I'm not looking for realism in films, even though Taxi has some very interesting and funny jabs at the real New York City. There are people like Belle and Washburn here, even if less comically exaggerated. There are cabbies who drive like Belle--I had the misfortune of riding home from the Newark airport with one who was going 100 mph (160 kph) while weaving in and out of traffic, often straddling two lanes. I've seen a number of people use Washburn's method of parallel parking (that's one of the reasons I pay for a garage instead).
A lot of people here live in converted warehouses, industrial spaces, and so on, often "illegally". Apartments are so expensive that this is often the only alternative. So it's not only funny and in character that Belle sleeps right next to her car, which she would rather work on in the middle of the night before she attends to her boyfriend, it's not that far removed from reality. If you did happen to be looking for realism, the film has plenty.
But Taxi is fiction, after all, and often cartoonish fiction at that. That's to be expected in much comedy. The opening bicycle ride isn't only amazing technically, it's funny _because_ it's supposed to be Queen Latifah on that bike! Jimmy Fallon's character was hilarious to me. He's a Clouseau-like bumbling nincompoop, but with a different kind of self-awareness that he's trying to veil with that special New York City "street tough" veneer. It perfectly skewers the public face that most people put on in the city. Latifah and Fallon complement each other in many ways. It was a pairing that I would have never thought of, but it is brilliant. There are a large number of scenes that will stand out in my mind for a long time.
And as good as Fallon and Latifah are, Ann Margaret, as Washburn's mother, nearly steals the scene every time she appears. She's a lovable drunk with an amicable, libertine outlook. Her apartment is a delight of tacky 1970s fashion, which brings up another exemplary technical aspect of the film--the production design.
But Taxi is also an exciting action/crime/thriller. The car chases often come close to those of another fantastic, unjustly underrated film--The Fast and The Furious (2001). The stunt driving is amazing. While the crime plot certainly isn't the focus of Taxi, it's more than just a throwaway device to propel our protagonists through their character development.
I'm not arguing that everyone should come away from Taxi believing that it's a 10 as I do. Tastes differ, and these characters, or these actors, in these kinds of situations with these personalities, as well as this kind of pacing, fancy camera work, etc., could be not quite to your taste. But the extremely low scores from some only show that those reviewers aren't taking their assumed role as film critics seriously (this is even true of some professionals--just read Roger Ebert's review of this film), and if they're not giving that much respect to the artform they're engaging with, it's difficult to see why anyone should give much respect or consideration to their views. To say that a film like Taxi is anywhere near the technical incompetence of a film like Back Woods (2001) or The Black (not Blair) Witch Project (2001), which is implied when you rate the film a 1 or 2, is beyond reproach. -
beyond-waterloo17 March 2008I give it 7/10 because I think it is funny and give me joyous moments. Though the storyline is simple, there is no lack of exciting scenes. The car-chasing is good. Some say that the acting is bad, but I think the actor have played their role dutifully.
I would not put my bars too high for a comedy film. If you are expecting a film that could inspire you, it's probably not for you. All I can say that it is good for 2 hr of relax.
Really, I couldn't think it only has a 4.3 rating on IMDb.com.
I have not watched the French version, so could not compare the two. Perhaps the French one is much superior, but that would not affect my rating on the film. -
beautiful_suburban_midnight17 February 2005I didn't go into this movie with high expectations, and they were pretty much met. After being really pleased with Queen Latifah's performance in Chicago, I was really disappointed with 'Bringing Down the House'.
This movie was just the same regurgitated claptrap as the aforementioned BDtH. Sassy black woman shows uptight white loser how to live. The plot was laughable, to say the least. I chuckled once in this movie, and that's it.
I got this as a free rental, and even then, I felt ripped off.
2/10, and I'm being generous. -
bob the moo4 December 2004Washburn is an undercover cop who, after yet another job ending in a crashed car, has his license taken away and put back on the street. Meanwhile cycle courier Belle has finally gotten her taxi license and is preparing her souped up vehicle for the New York City streets. When a bank robbery in progress is called in, Washburn commandeers Belle's cab and gets involved in a high-speed chase with a group of Brazilian supermodels in a red BMW. Thrown off the case by the FBI, Washburn wants to catch the gang to get his job back, while Belle agrees to help so that she can get her taxi out of lockup.
I quite liked the original for what it was so I decided to give this film a try to see if it could manage to be fun. I'll be honest and say that the trailer attracted me because it had car chases, a bit of a laugh and some faux-lesbian teasing there, gone are my 'art-house' credentials! I hoped that these elements could be kept fun and that the film could have a spark to it in some area that would raise it above the genre and actually make it fun to watch. Sadly I was wrong and my worries about the effort put into this film were realized in the first few minutes of the film where a skinny person on a bike is revealed to be Belle even though their body shapes could not be more different! With this lack of attention to detail I did not have high hopes but I figured I was being picky and tried to get past it. However from here on in everything is exactly as you would expect lacking imagination and effort in almost every regard.
The plot is nonsense but to pick on that is to be too demanding because none of us expected anything too cohesive or logical but suffice to say that attempts to build stories around the characters are all flat and uninteresting. However what I did need from the film was action, excitement, comedy and spark. The action is OK but nothing special the use of CGI cars to make impossible stunts really takes away from the impact of the action, while the limitations of the busy streets means that the car chases are very tightly cut and never feel real and impressive. This reduces how excited the audience can feel and me and the other 15 people in the cinema sat rather impassive for most of the action scenes. With this OK, then the comedy needed to match it to produce an OK film, but it didn't. Not at all. The comedy is partly based on that wonderful comic device that black people are cool and sassy while white people are geeky and uptight. Oh, how I never tire of seeing racial stereotypes enforced in the name of comedy. With this old chestnut wheeled out again, the rest of the comedy falls into line and I never really laughed more than once. The button pushing and lack of imagination continues with the robbers themselves who are nothing more than legs and skin who are there to attract an idiotic and salivating male audience (ie me) on the promise of titillation. They don't deliver this very well at all and the scenes where they try to feel cheap, tacky and exploitative instead of sexy and fresh.
The cast are lumbered with the material but they don't do as much as perhaps they could have done to make it better. Fallon is annoying and geeky simply filling the 'white' cliché in the 'cool black/geeky white' combo. Latifah continues to just play the easy ethnic cliché stuff for every penny.
I don't know if she is like this in real life but I must admit that I do find her ethnic cliché to be lazy and rather offensive her smart-mouth, impatience and speed to violence has been in many of her last few roles and I don't think it is the best use of her position, but then again if you put money in front of me then I'd probably do the same. Esposito is pretty wasted in a thankless role before being used as a piece of meat for the sake of selling the film to the male audience (yes, yes, I admit it). The models are nothing but eye candy and I didn't think they did it very well.
Overall this is not a terrible film because it will appeal to boys and young teenagers with its noisy mix of unattainable leggy women, fast cars, basic humour and racial stereotyping; the target audience for this is shown even in the cut which removes a use of the MF word so that it can get to a younger audience. For me though I found it lacking any sort of imagination, spark or wit and instead just took the easy line of cliché, stereotype and noise. It will appeal to some, but not to me, and it was an effort to get to the end.