Wacky Taxi

Sometimes in the course of movie fandom you manage to find a film that is life changing. Awe inspiring. A film that touches you on a deep and emotional level. "Wacky Taxi", however, is not such a film. This globule of cinematic wonder came to me in a box set of 100 films which cost me $17. That makes this a 17¢ movie. I was overcharged.

A short plot summary: Watch John Astin Run! Watch John Astin Purchase A Car! Watch John Astin Shave! Watch John Astin Buy Fast Food! Watch John Astin Wash A Car! Watch John Astin Emote! Watch John Astin play an immigrant from South America with no discernible trace of a Latin accent! And that is just the first 15 minutes. I...just...couldn't go any further.

I would like to take a moment to recognize robertfranz, the other reviewer of this "film" for finding the strength of will to voluntarily watch the entire thing. Sir, you are a better man than I.

If you idea of a good time is watching Gomez Addams doing mundane things then you will LOVE this film. If find yourself SANE instead, you probably will not enjoy it.

I saw this while on a sub patrol in the early 80's.

We were having a competition to see who could watch the most movies during one patrol.

This was 16mm - pre vcr days.

I had to change the last reel myself, as everyone else, including the projectionist, walked out.

This movie remains the worst I've ever seen.

And that includes the documentary on iceberg lettuce I once watched at 3am in Aiea, HI while peaking on red dragon.

It's not even so-bad-it's-good - it's just bad.

I've tried to find a copy again over the years, to no avail until recently.

I see it's now available on amazon.

Watch me not reach for my credit card.

This is not a great movie but I would have been OK with sitting through it at the drive-in back in the day. My daughter says that any movie you can sit through should get at least a 3. I might even give this a 3.5. The story is about a man who wants to be more than a low paid factory worker and dreams of establishing a successful business. There are a lot of reasons to be discouraged but his family supports him through it all and he never gives up on his dream. I didn't like the final wrap-up at the end. It wasn't really needed. Otherwise it might have gotten a 4 from me, but it wasn't a deal breaker. Nice little G rated family movie.

A man buys a taxi to change his monotonous existence. A mediocre movie with an ending that doesn't belong to him. The only scene I liked was the loss of the taxi. I could feel the feeling of abandonment and emptiness that captured the poor taxi driver's heart. Only decent scene from the movie or at least the only one I remember.

Pepper (John Astin) is a guy who's never happy on a job. He quits his latest job and decides, spur of the moment, to open up a cab business. Sadly, he's never considered any of the details--insurance, a reliable car, licensing and much more. Not surprisingly, his dreams of riches and steady work come to nothing through most of the movie...and it's all a bit painful to watch....especially as he tries to make it work with a broken down old 1959 Cadillac.

With a title like "Wacky Taxi", you would expect the film to be a comedy. Sadly, however, there really isn't much about this picture that would make anyone laugh...in fact, it's a bit dull. No....it's a LOT dull. Considering how dull the film is I am not surprised that it's a title few have heard of and it's rarely seen. I found it on YouTube...and wish I'd just kept looking.