Taxi

1998 1h 26m FR

👍

6.7

SOLID

★6.7TMDB · 2,825

ActionComedyCrimeAdventure

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

In Marseilles a skilled pizza delivery boy Daniel who drives a scooter finally has his dreams come true. He gets a taxi license. Caught by the police for a huge speed infraction, he will help Emilien, a loser inspector who can't drive, on the track of German bank robbers, so he doesn't lose his license and his dream job.

“Some stories are better left unspoiled.”

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Cast

Samy Naceri
Daniel Morales
Frédéric Diefenthal
Émilien Coutant-Kerbalec
Marion Cotillard
Lilly Bertineau
Manuela Gourary
Camille Coutant-Kerbalec
Emma Wiklund
Petra
Bernard Farcy
Commissaire Gibert
Georges Neri
Joe
Guy Quang
Pizza Joe Motorcyclist

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Gérard Pirès
Writers: Luc Besson
Languages: Portuguese, French, German, Korean
Countries: France

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

86 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 5.1× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

28 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 4 languages: Portuguese, French, German, Korean.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Taxi Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Gérard Pirès, shot by Jean-Pierre Sauvaire. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Akhenaton. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Véronique Lange shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Gérard Pirès directs. Jean-Pierre Sauvaire behind the camera. Akhenaton scores. Véronique Lange cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in France. Dialogue in Portuguese, French, German, Korean.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

186 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Made its money back 5.1× over at the box office.
328 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
4Dialogue crosses 4 languages: Portuguese, French, German, Korean.
5Part of the "Taxi Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6Directed by Gérard Pirès, shot by Jean-Pierre Sauvaire. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Akhenaton. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Véronique Lange shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9Samy Naceri and Frédéric Diefenthal and Marion Cotillard carry the top of the cast.
10IMDB entry: tt0152930 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Released under 15 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Jean-Pierre Sauvaire
Original score: Akhenaton
Editing: Véronique Lange
Production design: Jean-Jacques Gernolle
Costume design: Chattoune
Makeup / hair: Myriam Hottois
Sound: Vincent Arnardi
Runtime: 86 min · 1h 26m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $8,700,000
Box office: $44,218,015
Return: 508% of budget
Original language: FR
IMDB: Taxi (1998)

Part of

Taxi Collection

In terms of box office admissions, the "Taxi" series is one of the most successful French franchises ever, grossing a reported total of $200 million worldwide and 23 million admissions in France.

Also by

Gérard Pirès

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Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-03-06
★ 7/10
“Daniel” (Samy Naceri) is a record-breaking pizza delivery man in Marseille who is on the cusp of attaining his two greatest wishes. Sex with his pal “Lily” (Marion Cotillard) and his licence to drive a taxi. Then his phone reminds him that to achieve the latter he will have to, temporarily he hopes, forgo the former and get to the licensing centre. By way of some celebratory foolishness, though, he doesn’t have it long as he drives his cab like he rides his bike, and the local constabulary aren’t so impressed. Luckily, it’s the pretty hapless “Émilien” (Frédéric Diefenthal) who apprehends him and he has bigger fish to fry with some elusive bank robbers. He reckons he can use his new friend’s driving skills and intimate knowledge of the city to help him track the criminals down (he can’t actually drive!) and so now an unlikely pairing is born. Luc Besson has crafted an entertaining movie here that is a spoof of just about every cop/buddy-cum-heist film you’ve ever seen and for the most part it works. There is plenty of action on the streets, but there’s also some good fun to be had as the bromance develops and it soon becomes clear that “Daniel” would make a far better gendarme than “Émilien” ever would. Add to the mix the latter man’s frustrated affection for his colleague “Petra” (Emma Wiklund) and his ineptness seems to know few bounds. Both Naceri and Diefenthal work well together presenting an engaging, borderline slapstick, comedy that ends with an enjoyably high-octane homage to the “Italian Job” (1969) before scenes that might hint sequel! I enjoyed this.

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