Tagline: He’s armed, but she’s dangerous.
Taxi movie storyline. “Chicago’s” Queen Latifah and “Saturday Night Live’s” Jimmy Fallon team up in this non-stop action-comedy. Latifah is New York’s fastest cabbie whose skills behind the wheel and souped-up car help an overeager undercover cop (Fallon) pursue a gang of female bank robbers.
Belle Williams (Queen Latifah) is a speed demon. Flying through the streets of New York in her tricked-out Taxi, she’s earned a rep as New York’s fastest cabbie. But driving a hack is only a pit stop for her real dream: Belle wants to be a race car champion. And she’s well on her way – until she’s derailed by overeager cop Andy Washburn (Jimmy Fallon), whose undercover skills are matched only by his total ineptitude behind the wheel.
Washburn, whose lack of vehicular skills has landed him in the precinct doghouse, is hot on the heels of a gang of beautiful Brazilian bank robbers, led by Vanessa (Gisele Bündchen), their cold, calculating – and leggy – leader. To nab the evasive crooks, drivers license-less Washburn convinces Belle to team up with him to pursue Vanessa and crew. Belle has carte blanche to drive at any speed and break any law. The car-less cop and speed-demon cabbie – New York’s unlikeliest partners – begin a high-speed game of cat and mouse with the robbers.
That is, if Belle and Washburn don’t end up killing each other first. Academy Award nominee Queen Latifah (“Chicago”) and “Saturday Night Live’s” Jimmy Fallon (in his first major feature film role) team up in the buddy comedy Taxi. The film is based on the 1998 international smash “Taxi,” written and directed by Luc Besson, which became the largest grossing film in the history of French cinema and has since spawned two sequels. Besson also produces Taxi.
Making her acting debut as Vanessa, the ringleader of the allfemale bank robbers, is Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen. Jennifer Esposito (“Don’t Say a Word”) stars as Washburn’s boss and ex-girlfriend, and two-time Oscar nominated movie legend Ann-Margret (“Carnal Knowledge,” “Tommy”) portrays Washburn’s eccentric mom.
Taxi is directed by Tim Story (“Barbershop,” the upcoming “Fantastic Four”) from a screenplay by Robert Ben Garant & Thomas Lennon (the upcoming “The Pacifier”) and Jim Kouf (“Rush Hour”), based on the 1998 film “Taxi,” written by Luc Besson.
Taxi follows the success of Tim Story’s first major feature film, the 2002 smash hit comedy “Barbershop,” starring Ice Cube and Cedric the Entertainer. Story had seen Luc Besson’s “Taxi,” which inspired him to take the reins of the new film. “When I saw the amount of fun they had in the original film – from the camaraderie to the car chases – I knew it was the perfect project for me,” Story says. ‘We wanted to capture the excitement and off-beat humor of the original and inject it with our own spirit.”
Working on an American remake of the blockbuster French film along with Luc Besson, the original’s creator, was a joy for Story and screenwriters Robert Ben Garant & Thomas Lennon and Jim Kouf. “I’ve been a fan of Luc Besson since… well, since forever,” says Garant. To actually sit around with him in his castle and bounce ideas off each other was an incredible experience. And boy were his cars cool.”
When Jim Kouf traveled to Paris to meet with Besson, he came to understand the phenomenal success and influence of Besson’s “Taxi.” “After I met with Luc, I had dinner at a restaurant and mentioned to my waiter that I was working on an American version of ‘Taxi’,” Kouf recalls. “Well, the waiter was overjoyed, and said he couldn’t wait to see it – and he’d already seen all three of the three French ‘Taxi’ films.”
For Thomas Lennon, the chance to let his imagination run wild was a major draw. “As a writer,” says Lennon, “Taxi is the best kind of film to work on, as it let us create extensive car chases through Midtown Manhattan, Grand Central Station, and other seemingly impossible locations on paper… and then Tim Story had to actually go put these scenes on film. I’m not sure how he did it.”
In the original French film, the lead character was a male Taxi driver named Daniel. While attempting to stay true to the character of Daniel and his die-hard obsession with speed, the filmmakers flipped the character’s gender in order to cast Queen Latifah.
Latifah gave the project an edge not present in the original film. The new Taxi would deconstruct the traditional action buddy comedy, embracing the genre but at the same time turning it on its head. Latifah’s Belle would be the independent “strong, silent type” – a kickass speed demon who rules the road. Belle’s boyfriend, Jessie (played by Henry Simmons), is a stay-at-home guy eager to settle down with Belle, but her racing pursuits indicate that she’s far from ready to tie the knot. Similarly, Jimmy Fallon’s Washburn is in love with his police sergeant (Jennifer Esposito), who keeps him at arm’s length; traditionally, the woman would be pursuing the male cop.
Executive Producer Robert Simonds sums it up: “I like to think of Taxi as a “deconstructed role-reversal action comedy.” Latifah found that Taxi offered the perfect “vehicle” to showcase her more physical side, as well as her finely honed comedic skills. “The script had a great combination of action and comedy,” she says. “But I really took it on because I like being physical in movies. Taxi gave me the opportunity to drive and do some stunts and have some fun. I have that ‘X gene’ in me, the one that makes you willing to jump out of planes, ride motorcycles and do karate. I was really looking forward to doing that kind of movie and finally Taxi came along.”
Latifah points out that Belle is a strong and sexy woman – not unlike herself – whose whole life has been dominated by the goal of becoming a race car champion. “She just loves racing, to the exclusion of everything. Every dime that she makes after rent and paying the bills goes into the Taxi that she’s building – this thing that’s completely illegal and faster than anything on the streets.”
For the role of Washburn, the filmmakers needed an actor with comedic skills and the acting chops to be convincing as an undercover police officer. Versatile comedian, impressionist, writer and musician Jimmy Fallon makes his first major feature film starring role with Taxi. With a grueling seven days a week – often coast-to-coast – schedule, Fallon worked simultaneously on Taxi while continuing to appear weekly on “Saturday Night Live.” Fallon, recently departed from “SNL,” was one of the most popular ensemble regulars, best known as co-anchor (with Tina Fey) of the “Weekend Update” news segment.
For years, the major studios had been pursuing Fallon for film work. “His agent joked that Taxi was the 59th film he’d been offered,” says Robert Simonds. “We were thrilled that he finally said yes to our film.” Fallon explains that his Taxi character, Washburn, had always wanted to be a police officer. “He just loves being a cop,” Fallon says. “That’s what he does best; it’s what he’s all about. But, he just can’t drive. In fact he just plain sucks at it.”
For the role of Vanessa, the leader and getaway driver of the dropdead gorgeous quartet of bank robbers, the filmmakers chose supermodel Gisele Bündchen, who makes her motion picture debut in Taxi. Bündchen had taken an eight month hiatus from modeling when the producers offered her the opportunity to play Vanessa.
“I really wanted to do something different,” Bündchen admits. “I liked Taxi because it was a comedy. I thought it would be a fun project and that I’d have a blast doing it. And I was right about that.”
“Vanessa is the perfect villain and the perfect opponent for Queen Latifah’s character,” says Tim Story. “What Gisele brought was a fresh, outof- the box approach to a villain. We did not want an antagonist who would come across as cliché. Physically, Vanessa and Belle complement each other. They became the perfect opponents.”
Bündchen describes her character as very secure and confident in her abilities. “She knows what she’s doing,” says Bündchen. “She’s very intelligent and not scared of anything. The other members of her team commit the robberies, while Vanessa just sits in the car and waits. And if they screw up, she might just take off. That’s the kind of person she is.”
Bündchen, despite having thousands of hours experience in front of the fashion photographers’ lenses, had to adjust to being in front of a movie camera. “The difference between acting and modeling is that models are supposed to look at the camera,” she says. “You’re used to the lenses and used to looking at the camera. But with a movie, you have to pretend the camera isn’t there.”
Taxi (2004)
Directed by: Tim Story
Starring: Queen Latifah, Jimmy Fallon, Gisele Bündchen, Jennifer Esposito, Ann-Margret, Ana Cristina De Oliveira, Magali Amadei, Ingrid Vandebosch, Adrian Martinez
Screenplay by: Jim Kouf, Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon
Production Design by: Mayne Berke
Cinematography by: Vance Burberry
Film Editing by: Stuart Levy
Costume Design by: Sanja Milkovic Hays
Set Decoration by: Jackie Carr
Art Direction by; Maria L. Baker, Randall Richards
Music by: Christophe Beck, Tim Boland
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for language, sensuality and brief violence.
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: October 8, 2004
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