Director : Tim Story Starring : Queen Latifah, Jimmy Fallon, Gisele Bundchen Trailer for Taxi Cinema.com Trailers (Varios formats) (www.cinema.com) Yahoo Movies - Trailer (Qucktime, WMP) (movies.yahoo.com) More Movie Reviews...

If, for the slightest moment, you had forgotten that Hollywood doesn't make movies by committee anymore, then please take a look at Taxi and have your cynical faith in the film industry restored. One can imagine the development meeting went down something like this:

"So there's this French movie, Taxi. I think we could seriously remake it."

"A French movie? Screw that. What's it about?"

"Well, there's this taxi driver, and he has this really tricked-out taxi, and he teams up with this doofus cop who can't drive and they try to catch some bank robbers. The upshot is it's all way cool car chases. No sensitive stuff."

"Have you seen it?"

"No, of course not. Does it matter?"

"I guess not. So are we talking kind of street-savvy, clever taxi driver and stupid cop? A buddy movie kind of thing?"

"Yeah, exactly!"

"Well, we need someone funny for the driver. Someone who can appeal to both kids and adults, who can do stupid movies without appearing to actually be stupid."

"Someone sincere? Best of luck in this town, pal!"

"Hey – I got an idea! This movie's about two guys, right? Cast a chick as the cab driver and presto! You're appealing to both women and men."

"But no romance! Keep it light. This is not a date movie."

"And, if you cast somebody African-American, then you immediately pull in an urban audience."

"Hmmm…female African-American who's funny but not off-putting, sexy but not too sexy, has both street cred and a good profile in this town, with a hit in her pocket, can carry a movie…."

(Pause)

(All) "QUEEN LATIFAH!"

"Talk about soundtrack potential too! And she turned that Steve Martin movie into a $100 million-plus grosser! Don't forget that Oscar nomination – never hurts!"

"Should we get Martin? Make it a sequel of sorts?"

"Nah, he's too old. We need someone young, hip, cheap, familiar but still hungry, aching to break out into movies, funny most of the time……"

(Pause)

"Who's on Saturday Night Live these days?"

"Tina Fey. Amy Poehler. Maya Rudolph. That Dratch woman."

"No, the guys."

"There are guys on SNL these days?"

"Yeah….hey, who's the guy with the bad hair? The kind of Mike Myers-Dana Carvey mixed one. Funny but low-key. Kinda manic. Wears the vintage t-shirts. Chicks dig him."

"Oh yeah….Jimmy Fallon, right? The funny news guy? Does MTV Movie Awards and crap?"

"Bet he'd work for cheap!"

"Yeah, if you can get him out from under Lorne Michaels' thumb!"

(Everyone laughs)

"So okay, we got two leads who are funny, who hopefully can click with each other. Give them each a scene where they can act out and get some laughs. She can do the street-cred thing, maybe he can do funny voices and stuff."

"Make him a mama's boy! Give him some stress at work…. Maybe his ex-girlfriend is his boss!"

"Nice! We'll put her in some tight tops – not too slutty though. She's gotta be authoritarian and serious."

"Hey, we still want some women to see this, right? Can we give Latifah a hunky guy? You know, one who's all serious and sensitive?"

"Done – he wants to marry her, but all her chasing around gets him frustrated. So we got romance and stuff….but we don't have any real sex. What's going to pull the guys in besides car chases?"

(Pause)

"They're chasing bank robbers, right?"

"Yeah."

(Pause)

"Hey! Why don't we make the bank robbers supermodels?"

"Nice one! Put `em in some Victoria's Secret undies, give `em guns, make one of them a hot driver…..man, that's some guy's wet dream right there!"

"Up the ante, and put in some girl-on-girl action….like the lead supermodel frisking the lady cop!"

(All sigh)

"Okay, now all we gotta get in are some car chases. Hey! Those red states like Nascar and shit, right? We make the cab driver a Nascar fan, trick out her cab with gadgets that'll make a 14 year-old car fan wet his pants, and send it out on the road!"

"Don't we need a real action director then?"

"Nah – just stick a camera on the front of the car, it'll all work out."

"Put it in L.A.?"

"Nah, we're still riding post-9/11 here. New York all the way! I love New York, I love cab drivers, I love crowded streets, I love familiar landmarks, yada yada."

"Man, I think we got it. Anything we're missing here?"

"Only a script."

(All laugh)

"Oh man, that always kills me! Where are we going for lunch today?"