Chicago Cab

I have to admit, the first thing that drew me to the film was John Cusack's cameo, as I am and always will be a huge fan of his (read: fanatic). I never thought I would actually fall in love with the film, but that's just what I did!

As an aspiring indie filmmaker, this film really gets to me in many ways: more obviously, the acting is superb, in all cases. that Paul Dillon really is awesome (as are his eyes, they're killer!), as were all the cameos. I honestly could not find one bad actor among them (the shortness of some screen times may account for that, but let's not get negative here ;)). The story was very interesting and original, and although I've heard of people criticising the film's lack of interesting plot, I really tend to disagree. I've always enjoy "a day in the life of" type movies, especially those that give a perspective on real people, and give you the opportunity to get to know the characters, identify with them very well, unlike most "action-packed" cheesy Hollywood movies filled with little perfect phonies. Instead, to me, this movie had many small plots, and however small they were, they gave you enough to, if you use your imagination god forbid, to really know some characters, and connect with some. The number of real emotions I experienced while watching this movie -- and continue to, no matter how many times I see it -- is staggering. To me this film represents independent filmmaking of the people genre at its best: real and honest, for better or for worst. I also really admire the direction, production, camera work, music, etc. The genius of these elements together gave you a real feel for the topic, the city, the driver, and the drivees. The ending was also superb, for although the movie often showed how much life can suck, the ending gave me some hope for the future of humanity (of which I have very little), or, at least for certain individuals who can think clearly. ;) It really touched me and I identified greatly with it, and it gave a real sense of closure to the film, although I was whining for more when the credits started a-rollin'. :)

I now own this film (yay me!), as I purchased it literally the moment after the video store in which I work released a previously viewed copy for sale, and have watched it in full half a dozen times (and counting) and in parts a countness number. I have also shown it to (read: forced to watch) some friends and family, and although the numbers are pretty equal as to who likes it and who doesn't, the ones who dig it really dig it, and to me that's more than worth it! I want to show it to the world, wooo!

I saw this movie around Christmas 2002, it was about 02.00 am, I thought I'd make one more walk around the channels. Then I saw a guy in a cab on BBC, and the colors of the movie seemed okay -You know, when a movie is really dumb, or bad, it often has intense and bright colors-. I wasn't doing anything at the moment, so I left it on. Then I became more and more interested in it, and decided to turn of the computer and focus only on the movie. I think this is a movie that truly represents the spirit of Christmas, although I am still not sure what the hell that may be, I'm sure this is it. Paul Dillon, whom I did not know beforehand plays his character brilliantly. He's a quiet guy, who somehow got into the job of cabdriver. He has to work on Christmas-eve and he gets all these strange people in his cab who tell him about what happened to them lately, and that's it! Fantastic. From there you see him trying to say the right things, and that maybe is the most beautiful thing about this movie. The movie is really easy going, you can just sit, do nothing, just watch and let it pass by. Therefore, when watched alone, late at night, at Christmas-time, this is the perfect movie for the moment, and deserves 10 out of 10 points.

A friend and I picked this movie for our usual Crappy Movie Friday, It's called Hellcab, the back says something about unusual/mysterious passengers, so you can't miss, right?

Well, it happened. Sure, we had planned for it, but we'd more or less forgotten our plan. "What if," we had figured, "what if we rent a movie that we -mistake- for a crappy movie and it turns out to be good?" That situation came up. We watched the movie in relative silence (as opposed to our usual nonstop riffage) and in the end found we really liked it. It wasn't horror at all. It wasn't anywhere near crappy. What to do?

We still don't know. But what I know anyway was that I really enjoyed it. The Cab Driver is a great actor and his facial expressions speak volumes. Oh, and John Cusack is hilarious and very creepy as the Scary Guy. (Too bad his role is so brief!)

Check this one out! Don't mistake it for a horror flick! 8.5 out of 10 on My Personal Scale.

I just finished watching "Chicago Cab" on cable and was moved to post some comments. Though Paul Dillon gets third bill, this is his show.

Better known to most of the world for his hilarious role in the first "Austin Powers" flick, Dillon gets an opportunity to flex his muscles as a fully rounded character actor. Over the course of his very long day (from sun-up to sundown and then some), he picks up a plenitude of fares ranging from sanctimonious (his first fare of the day is a rather smug Born Again couple and their little daughter on their way to church at the very ungodly hour of six in the morning) to the frightening (too many to mention). All are played with conviction by a large number of talented actors ranging from the virtually unknown to very familiar faces in cameos.

One of these well-known faces is Gillian Anderson. It's fun to see her as a foul-mouthed Southside girl; a nice break from her prim, proper Agent Scully persona. Also worthy of mention is Reggie Hayes as Dillon's final fare of the day. The dialogue between the two men is touching and provides a necessary respite from the overall dire (yet entertaining) tone of the film.

I hope Will Kern graces the screen with another effort. This was adapted from his play of the same name and I'd like to see more from him.

As a final note, the video title, "Hellcab," is perhaps misleading. This movie is in no way related to the early CD-ROM game "Hellcab" created by comic artist Pepe Moreno.

I remember the night I watched Chicago Cab for the first time. It was a few years ago and it was around 3:00 A.M. As soon as I saw the cab park to pick up the coke head, I was hooked. This movie, in my opinion, can be seen any time of the year but the true effect is present on or around the Christmas season. In some odd way, you can relate this film to the holidays. Of course, the movie is set on the winter solstice which is near Christmas but it's more of a relation to the depression that people face near Christmas. In any event, this movie is a must see. Paul Dillon deserves a standing ovation from every individual that sees this movie. You can't really "connect" with the driver but, then again, you can. If you ever see Chicago Cab/Hell Cab on your cable guide screen, do not pass it by. Watch it.