Review

Fans of the classic sitcom this Hardcore Parody parodies may be alternately delighted and horrified by the casting choices made here. Granted, it might have been more or less obligatory to place Ron Jeremy in the role of Danny DeVito's Louie De Palma, but sadly, the porn legend makes little effort to channel DeVito and even handles some of the dialogue a bit clumsily. Better acting-wise but still questionable in terms of fittingness is Evan Stone in the Judd Hirsch/Alex part. And then there's Mick Blue as Latka ... hey, we love the dude, but just because he has a real accent does not mean a suitable Andy Kaufman surrogate he makes—albeit them's some tough shoes to fill. (What, you guys couldn't afford Jim Carrey? C'mon!)

On the other hand, Old Man Frady—a lighting technician well known to industry insiders—does an amazing job as Christopher Lloyd's Reverend Jim Ignatowski. And downright spooky-accurate is Anthony Rosano's inhabiting of Tony (Danza).

On-loan Wicked Pictures contract star Kirsten Price falls somewhere in between as the only female cabbie, Elaine. Sporting the requisite red locks, she's a decent fill-in for original actress Marilu Henner (who truly was a Kirsten Price-grade hottie in the day), even if she doesn't approximate Henner's tonality and mannerisms all that closely. She makes up for it by at least delivering her lines with nice gusto ... and by performing a scalding and fairly acrobatic sex scene with Mark Wood on her character's living room couch. (Even being the movie's sole condom scene, it's a scorcher, especially given the added fantasy value for any Henner admirers out there.) Culminating with some intense piledriver action, it's one of Kirsten's best b/g scenes to date.

Perhaps more acrobatic still, if also more static, is the opener with Eva Angelina and Jack Lawrence, in which Lawrence bangs Angelina up against the side of his cab while holding her off the ground by her legs. Later, there's yet another stellar scene with Rosano and Monique Alexander in a locker room after he's just lost a fight.

Matter of fact, all five scenes here are top-notch, which is a big part of what pushes Taxi to Editor's Choice status. Of course, the impressive recreation of the original set, as well as the hard-lit look of the era's TV shows, bolster it some more, as does Krissy Lynn's exceptional acting job in the supporting role of Alex's ex-wife. Also of note is the bevy of behind the scenes footage and other extras on disc two, including a rare glimpse at the majority of the cast doing a table read.

Whether or not you're a Taxi purist, this is a fun watch, and (more importantly, let's be honest) a supreme serving of stroke material.

 -- Peter Warren - AVN