Python Hyena Taxi (2004): Dir: Tim Story / Cast: Jimmy Fallon, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Esposito, Gisele Bundchen, Henry Simmons: The taxi may be a metaphor for support as Queen Latifah seems to be cop Jimmy Fallon's only form of transportation after losing his driver's license. He is a bad driver and she is a taxi driver who dreams of racing. Her taxi is equipped with every gadget one could ask for but her love life is falling apart with every missed dinner plate. Plot centres around a series of bank robberies performed by four models. This opens the door to much senseless sexual screen time with no point. Latifah and Fallon are the new duo to play off the buddy film comedy and what they deliver is just a series of dreary chase scenes. They will bicker and fight just like others before them, and they will solve the case and become stronger buddies. Director Tim Story does his best. He had success previously with Barbershop but here the script is about the same use as toilet paper. Jennifer Esposito as the Lieutenant is basically there to be body searched by one of the female criminals. The screenplay is about as terrible as Fallon's driving record. In the 1970's there was a classic sitcom that regarded taxis and their drivers. Watching several episodes of that would be superior viewing to this. Perhaps the best idea would be to place this film on the ground and see how many taxi cabs swerve to miss it, or appropriately do it in. Score: 2 / 10

Steve Pulaski Taxi is not only lame, but it's extremely unfunny. Its idea of humor is either Queen Latifah yelling at Jimmy Fallon for being the stupid, whiteboy he is, or a long and cartoonish chase scene. Usually in movies, chase scenes are used to either portray a climatic scene or the biggest scene in an action movie. Taxi abuses them and uses them as humor in its contrived and incoherent plot.The story focuses on a New York City cabbie named Belle (Latifah) who has a loving boyfriend and has spent the last five years working on her cab and has added features a sportscar could only dream of. The story also focuses on a cop named Andy Washburn (Fallon),a bumbling cop who is now forbidden to drive his cop car after an accident.Trying to catch a group of supermodel bank-robbers, Andy's only method of transportation is a taxi. For some reason he can't get a partner, who knows? Luckily, he gets into Belle's taxi. The rest of the film is mindless action mixed with stupidity, dim-witted characters, and stiff dialog.The question that grew bigger and bigger when I was watching Taxi was how did Andy qualify to be a cop in the first place? He's completely idiotic and two nickels shy of a dollar. He's so brilliant in one scene he runs into oncoming traffic holding his badge in an effort...to get a taxi? Instead waving his hand out, he decided cutting into a crosswalk holding his badge and starting an unrealistic pileup would be the correct way to do such a thing.My other question was where does Belle find all the time and money to buy and work on her taxi, while still getting money from customers. It's a five year process, but all that work on one car could cost tens of thousands. I don't think it's worth losing sleep or evaluating.Also, why is Ann-Margret, the gorgeous woman from Bye Bye Birdie, Grumpy Old Men, Viva Las Vegas in this mess playing Andy's alcoholic mother? Is alcoholism really so funny that such an actress needs to play it unrealistically? I hate to say it, but those scenes with Ann-Margret were appalling to watch to say the least.Why Tim Story wanted to direct such an inspired mess of a movie is foreign to me since two years prior to this he directed the fantastic urban film Barbershop about several grown men talking up their city barbershop, sharing experiences, and giving relationship advice. Barbershop was well done and well written. Everything Taxi isn't.Taxi is sloppy, and its computer-generated car chases don't work in its favor. In a good movie like The Fast & The Furious, the car chases are more like drag races, and they don't take place on a heavily occupied NYC block where it looks completely unrealistic. The Fast & The Furious's chase scenes are well constructed, and don't seem so obtrusive. Also, there are other little minor jokes that don't involve chase scenes. In Taxi, that's all they got.Starring: Queen Latifah, Jimmy Fallon, and Ann-Margret. Directed by: Tim Story.

Jackson Booth-Millard I remember seeing bits and pieces of the original foreign language film of the same name, and I remember hearing about this remake from the appearance of the leading actor on The Secret Policeman's Ball 2006, next to EastEnders' Shaun Williamson saying how bad it was, so I had to see why, from director Tim Story (Barbershop, Fantastic Four). Basically Isabelle 'Belle' Williams (Queen Latifah) has recently left her old job to become a New York taxi driver, but being a speed demon she has cab modified to have turbo engine, but her real dream is to be a champion race car driver. This is derailed however by the appearance of overeager undercover cop Andrew 'Andy' Washburn (Jimmy Fallon) who has a knack for causing chaos and has no driving skills, despite getting a licence. He is chasing a trio of beautiful female bank robbers, led by Vanessa (Gisele Bündchen), and Belle ends up being the only witness in the case and the only accomplice to solve the crime. So begins a game of cat and mouse with the two most unlikely partners chasing the robbers, and only causing mishaps all over the place, and of course making Lt. Marta Robbins (Jennifer Esposito) more mad. After the lieutenant says enough is enough, and takes Andy's melted (by Belle's hubby) off him, he and Belle do reconcile, and she teaches him to drive a little bit, and in the end they of course get the bad girls and everything settles. Also starring Ann-Margret as Mrs. Washburn, Henry Simmons as Jesse, Christian Kane as Agent Mullins and Ana Cristina De Oliveira as Redhead. Latifah's ghetto girl one liners are wasted, Fallon is a complete waste of space, the chase sequence don't make any difference to how bad it is, I remember giggling once, but only once, the story has absolutely no laugh out loud moments, a stupid action comedy. Pretty poor!

amusmeci Whyyyy? Why God? Why God? (Im agnostic even though this converted me) Don't the American filmmakers write, produce, make their own stuff! Lets see: a woman driver, for a change? yeah really? Is wasn't there available another less charismatic individual for the cop role, come on! Femme fatal bank robbers, this isn't a Michael Bay's isn't right? This is torturous, even a SNL's movie is way better! This is blasphemous, and i don't think Luc Besson has something to do with this perpetration! Next time, please french people, look who you sell your stuff to, do the research and most important, send a assistant. Avoid it at all costs!