Taxi (1998)
★★★ — Taxi (1998)
There is a particular strand of European action comedy that operates almost entirely on kinetic energy and sheer nerve, and Taxi (1998) sits comfortably near the top of that pile. Produced through EuropaCorp and TF1 Films Production, the film is set in Marseille and follows Daniel, a former pizza delivery rider whose reckless speed and local knowledge of the city's streets have finally earned him a taxi licence. When he is pulled over by the hapless police inspector Emilien for a string of traffic violations, the two strike a deal: Daniel will use his heavily modified Peugeot 406 to help track down a crew of German bank robbers, and in return, Emilien will make the speeding charges disappear. It is a premise that reads like it was sketched on a napkin, and the film leans into that cheerfully. For context on the kind of French cinema that takes a completely different approach to storytelling, you might compare it to something like Sugar Cane Alley (1983) or Mustang (2015), both reviewed elsewhere on the blog, which show just how wide the range of French filmmaking actually is.
The film was directed by Gérard Pirès, a French director with a background in advertising and television whose eye for fast-moving imagery suited the material well enough. The screenplay, however, came from Luc Besson, who by 1998 had already made Léon and The Fifth Element and was beginning to establish himself as a producer and writer of high-octane popular cinema as much as a director. Besson's fingerprints are all over the film's sensibility: the broad comedy, the cartoonish but enthusiastic action, and the very Marseille-specific swagger that runs through the whole thing. The production is polished but unremarkable in most technical respects, with the obvious exception of the car sequences, which were choreographed with genuine ambition for a film of this scale.
The cast is headed by Samy Naceri as Daniel, a performer who brings a loose, magnetic physicality to the role even when the script is not giving him a great deal to work with. Frédéric Diefenthal plays Emilien as a study in comic ineptitude, the kind of bumbling authority figure that French comedy has always had a soft spot for. Among the supporting cast, Marion Cotillard appears in one of her earlier screen roles, here well before the international recognition that would follow in later years. The ensemble is rounded out by Manuela Gourary and Emma Wiklund. None of the performances aim particularly high, but then the film is not really asking them to. If high-speed action comedies from this era are your thing, you might also find it interesting to sit alongside something like Anaconda (1997), reviewed on the blog, which shares that same late-nineties appetite for genre excess, or for a very different kind of action energy altogether, there is always the write-up of Hardcore Henry (2015) to compare notes with.
Taxi (1998) is pure French B-movie joy. It's ridiculous, over-the-top, and driven by the kind of high-speed insanity that only Luc Besson could greenlight. It’s not good in the traditional sense, but it’s fun in a “how is this even possible?” kind of way. The plot is a Marseille cab driver with lightning reflexes (Samy Naceri) teams up with an unhinged, flat-footed police officer (Frédéric Diefenthal) to catch a gang of German bank robbers using his souped-up Peugeot 406. Yes, really. The car chases are the undisputed stars. Insane, physics-defying, and shot with real flair. Narrow alleyways, oncoming traffic, buses, tunnels, you name it, this taxi plows through it and the energy never lets up. It’s like The Italian Job remixed with Cannonball Run and a shot of Gauloises smoke. That said, it’s got flaws. The humour is broad, often silly, and sometimes veers into cringe. The dialogue is clunky, the acting is serviceable at best, and the whole thing runs on sheer audacity rather than logic or character depth. But if you’re in the mood for something loud, fast, and utterly French, it’s hard not to get swept up in its charm. Flawed, ridiculous, but packed with adrenaline and heart. Not a classic, not cinema, but a cult gem for anyone who loves cars going way too fast in all the wrong directions. Taxi doesn’t need to make sense. It just needs to go. And boy, does it go.
I think that sums it up pretty well. Taxi is the kind of film you put on when you want your brain to take a quiet evening off while your eyes have a genuinely good time. The Peugeot 406 might be the most charismatic thing on screen, and there is something almost refreshing about a film that knows exactly what it is and never once pretends to be anything more. It has no business being as enjoyable as it is, and yet here we are. Sometimes that is enough.
Rating: ★★★ | Year: 1998 | Watched: 2025-10-18
Trailer
▶ Watch the official trailer for Taxi (1998) on YouTube
Where to watch
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Related on Movies With Macca
More from France: Fantastic Planet (1973) · Letter from Siberia (1957) · Lessons of Darkness (1992) · Here and Elsewhere (1976)
More from the 1990s: Lessons of Darkness (1992) · Shinjuku Boys (1995) · Blue (1993) · Cemetery Man (1994)
More action: A Better Tomorrow (1986) · The General (1926) · Hand of Death (1976) · Daredevil (2003)
More comedy: The Eagle (1925) · The General (1926) · Americana (2023) · The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
