I have not read the book that this 2013 Singaporean comedy drama "Taxi! Taxi!" is based upon, so I don't know how true it is to the source material. However, as I stumbled upon the movie, by random chance here in 2023, of course I opted to give it a chance.
Writers Boris Boo, Lee Chee Tian and Violet Lai put together a storyline and script that proved enjoyable and entertaining enough, even for someone not familiar with the novel upon which the movie is based. I wasn't sure what I was in for, as I sat down to watch "Taxi! Taxi!", aside from it being a comedy drama, but I have to say that the movie turned out to be good.
The acting performances in the movie were good. I was only familiar with actor Mark Lee (playing Ah Tau). However, leading actor Gurmit Singh (playing Professor Chua) carried the movie quite well with his performance.
"Taxi! Taxi!" is a light-hearted comedy drama, where director Kelvin Sng manages to balance both the comedy and drama elements in equal measure. It is, however, at the same time also a rather spot on depiction of how Asian society is screwed together, obsessed with careers, income, status and saving face. And that makes "Taxi! Taxi!" a rather enjoyable and watchable movie on more than just one level.
I was genuinely entertained throughout the 93 minutes that "Taxi! Taxi!" ran for. And if you enjoy Asian movies, then I will say that director Kelvin Sng's 2013 movie is well-worth checking out.
My rating of "Taxi! Taxi!" lands on a six out of ten stars.
Taxi! Taxi!
2013 [CHINESE]
Comedy / Drama
6.2/10
92
Plot summary
"Taxi! Taxi!" is a social comedy set in the metropolitan city-state of Singapore, told through the encounters of two characters who are in what is widely perceived as the most sociable profession on the island taxi drivers. Inspired by famed blogger Dr Cai Mingjie's real life accounts as a taxi driver in his bestseller "Diary Of A Taxi Driver: True Stories From Singapore's Most Educated Cabdriver", the movie follows the trials and tribulations of a retrenched microbiology scientist, Professor Chua, as he turns to taxi driving after several failed job attempts. Along the way, he befriends (although they didn't quite start off as friends from the get-go) a veteran taxi driver, Ah Tau. The two men, who appear to be polar opposites of each other in every aspect from educational levels, personalities, attitudes toward life and even the languages that they speak, eventually find themselves interdependent and influencing each other in ways that they probably had never imagined
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
May 20, 2023 at 04:20 AM
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It was quite good...
Comedy doesn't translate
TAXI! TAXI! is a broad comedy from Singapore about the misadventures of a couple of taxi drivers and the family commitments to which they find themselves tied. It's a big step down in quality from the last Singapore film I watched, the excellent drama ILO ILO, and for a comedy film I have to say that I didn't laugh once. If you like exaggerated laughs and a brattish kid crying and screaming throughout then perhaps this is the film for you.
Me, I wasn't convinced. None of the characters ring particularly true and unlike, say, Cantonese humour, I found that the laughs didn't translate well to the west. They seem very obvious and unfunny to me. The main character is a sad sack who failed in his previous career as a scientist so who is forced to make ends meet as a taxi driver; this gives him a bitter personality. Eventually he sees the error of his ways when he befriends a rival driver. A lot of the humour is based around language barriers and the like, but as I said, it's not really for me.