Taxi Especial

D.C. Cab is one of those films that make you forget where you are, who you are and what's going on. It embodies everything you want in an early 80s picture, Filth, Humor, Upbeat Music, Attitude and Mr. T! Joel Schumacher and Topper Carew's script is very quick, brash and downright hilarious. Having seen Alex Cox' 'Repo-Man' I was accustomed to the raw gritty nature of those films that you saw in that era. The film never has a dull moment and it's full of energy(pay attention to the scene where they try to rescue Albert from the kidnappers) and when Adam Baldwin proves he's not chicken dung by refusing to surrend cab fare to a hood. Loud and Confusing the lack of rationality and reason pays off in D.C. Cab. A lot of noteworthy and in your face performances by The Barbarian Brothers, Charles Barnett, Max Gail and Marsha Warfield to name a few. Diversity works and this film proves it as we see so many walks of life and personality. There are a lot of good one-liners in this movie and they still stand the test of time...most are produced by the mouth of Gary Busey(He had to be on coke during this, he was off the wall bananas!)

D.C. Cab is a definite must-keep for the DVD-Aficionado and for those who want to laugh, feel nostalgic or just want to get lost check this out. In my opinion D.C. Cab is severely underrated and deserves plenty of accolades. I still chastise myself for not knowing it existed until I caught a preview on VH1's "I love the 80s 3-D". Oddly enough, I wasn't optimistic when I began watching it but afterward I was entertained beyond expectation and I watched it again! Joel Schumacher should be proud of this movie as for the last 10 years most of his films turned out forgettable. A must see!

8/10

When I first saw this as a kid I was sort of let down because Mr.T's name and image were all over the ads and what I got was an ensemble piece instead with Adam Baldwin as the lead. My reaction was "huh?".

Watching it again 20 years later and knowing not to get too worked up over Mr. T (c'mon, he had his own cereal for crying out loud) I felt completely different about this film. First of all, I had to put myself back in 1983. Many popular comedies of the day were mostly crude, sexist, racist, homophobic and would make a PC advocate shriek and hide under the bed. I bring this up because Joel Schumacher, an openly gay director, should've known better but since he co-wrote it with someone else I don't know which jokes were his so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Porky's, Doctor Detroit and Car Wash are just some examples of this kind of humor. Back to the movie: As a kid I had no idea who they were but today it's kind of cool seeing a young Paul Rodriguez, Patricia Duff (yes, THAT Duff...Ron Perelman's very rich ex), Gary Busey, Marsha Warfield, Irene Cara and Bill Maher when he wasn't gray. Because of the ensemle nature of the movie some shine more than others. I don't even know why Maher is in this movie as he has very little to do. You may laugh at Mr. T's sermonizing (in a very funny but great zoom-out scene involving the Lincoln Memorial no less)but it's refreshing to him delivering the same "make something of yourself" message today. It fits with the theme of the movie. Still, this isn't for little kids because of the naked women and the nature of the humor. A few words on the very underrated Adam Baldwin. He was only 21 in 1983 yet he's the glue that holds this motley crew together. I liked his roles early in his career but I haven't seen him much after "Full Metal Jacket" which is a shame because he holds his own in that too. Working with Kubrick couldn't have been easy. Sure there are problems with this movie, for example a romance between Baldwin and a waitress that doesn't really go anywhere and a thin kidnapping plot but nevertheless, "DC Cab" is an entertaining, feel-good time capsule. A refreshing escape from the mean-spirited, recycled or self contgratulatory comedies Hollywood wants us to pay $10.50 for today. If you think Joel Schumacher's movies are garbage today as I do, check your prejudices at the door. This is way better than Batman & Robin. With "DC Cab", you'll have yourself a new guilty pleasure.

It's vulgar, sexist, racist and extremely stupid in several parts. Perfect family picture.

Any film with Mr. T, Gary Busey and Barney Miller's Det. Wojohovitz as cabbies who try to foil a kidnapping plot, find missing violins and learn all about self-worth is a solid rent, especially when mixed with the "Animal House" slobbery that makes this crass crew so likeable.

Don't go in expecting Preston Sturges. Maybe Laurel and Hardy....

Three stars. And if you want a cabbie to drive you to Hell, travel light.

For months I wanted to drive around in a ghetto-fab taxi with rollers in my hair, but ma' wouldn't let me.

No one should ever admit to enjoying this flick, as it is awash in stupidity and dripping in dumbness. It is painfully, dreadfully, wretchedly awful... and I've seen it about 47 times. In short: A tasty hunk of Velveeta, fun to semi-watch while you're vacuuming your carpets or waxing your legs, but tell no one you did.

How many passengers?:

I found Mr. T's character to be the kidney-stone I couldn't wait to pass. And Gary Busey is all kinds of Sam Kinison fun (hint: not fun at all). But everyone else on hand delivers one or two sure-p**ser lines...my personal faves being a fur-coat sporting Marsha Warfield, threatening to beat Denise Gordy's door down and "beat your ass to fried whale-sh*t!" Or the scene stealing Charlie Barnett as roller-headed "Tyrone", jumping up and down on a barn screaming "Bruce Lee! Bruce Lee! I found him! I found that karate muther-f*cker!"

And the always under-appreciated Adam Baldwin, aka 'the only Baldwin that matters' turns in yet another competent performance as Albert "Whitebread Chicken-sh*t" Hockenberry. Plus, I've been finding him kinda dreamy ever since he played the teenage ax-murderer 'Ricky Lindermann" in "My Bodyguard". Forgive me this transgression...

Where to?:

"D.C. Cab" can't make up it's mind whether or not it wants to be a family film or "Animal House" on wheels. But it's far more successful when it's being lewd, crass, and it allows it's precious child actors to spit lines like "you are, a pitiful bitch!"

What do I owe ya?:

This cab is more hoopty than Cadillac, but a fun ride despite all the potholes.

In the winter of 1983 I was 12 and saw this film with a childhood friend at a theater that carded no one. Ha! My parents would have killed me. Then him. The theater was a show in itself every time we went. Our town was full of meth cooking bikers and there was a rival biker fight (complete with broken whiskey bottles for weapons) while my aforementioned friend and I were trying to watch Time Bandits. We snuck up to the front row to continue watching the movie, and hoped no one pulled a gun in there. Memories. ;) I had seen the R-rated Blade Runner with my dad the year in earlier in 1982, and I felt like such a grown-up. I remember noticing Bill Maher's nose in D.C. Cab, but didn't remember doing that or him being in the film until I watched it again in 2011. It is also nice to watch a movie where black characters feel comfortable enough to call stupid white people crackers. Loud, brash, fun, wacky movie. Awesome.