At first I thought the too-big stars (Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts) were what was wrong with this picture, because the frenetic Taxi Driver opening is impressive until Gibson’s iconic presence asserts itself and negates his character. But then I realized that the story—written by Brian Helgeland and directed by Richard Donner—was just dumb. Gibson plays an idiot-savantish cabbie obsessed with Justice Department attorney Roberts and government-sanctioned conspiracies—to the point of keeping his coffee and tapioca in steel containers with combination locks. And Patrick Stewart is ridiculous as a convoluted bad guy whose secret deeds are as unintriguing when they’re implied as when they’re revealed.
