Queen Latifa: stars as fastest cabbie in hilarious movie 'Taxi'

Jet, Oct 11, 2004

In her movies, Queen Latifah has been a bank-robber, a beautician, a singing prison warden and an ex-con.

Now, she's one of the fastest cabbies New York has ever seen in the comedy Taxi.

In Taxi she plays Belle Williams, a true speed demon. She's a tough cabbie who flies through the streets of New York in her tricked-out taxi. Along the way, she earns a reputation as that city's fastest cabbie.

Sure, driving a cab pays the bills and provides an occasional thrill, but it's just a way to make ends meet until she can really pursue her dream of becoming a race car champion.

Belle's dreams get derailed when she meets an aggressive cop named Andy Washburn (Jimmy Fallon). It turns out his undercover skills are every bit as bad as his talents behind the wheel of a car. He's totally inept.

Washburn's inability to drive has him in the precinct doghouse. Still, he finds himself hot on the heels of a gang of beautiful Brazilian bank robbers, led by Vanessa (Gisele Bundchen), their cold, calculating and very leggy leader.

To nab the crooks who have so far eluded capture, Washburn convinces Belle to team up with him to go after Vanessa and her accomplices. Belle has the go-ahead to drive at whatever speed she wants.

The unlikely pair of speed-demon cabbie and car-less cop begin a super high-speed game of cat and mouse with the bank robbers. Beyond the question of whether they'll catch the criminals, there's also the issue of such an odd pairing working. Will they kill each other in the meantime?

The movie is a re-make of the 1998 smash French movie of the same title that was directed by Luc Besson. He also is producer of the remake.

The film is directed by Tim Story, who also was director of the successful Barbershop.

The original film was a male buddy film and the taxi driver was a man named Daniel. But, they wanted Queen Latifah. It would be a buddy film, but not in the traditional sense. Latifah's Belle was going to be very independent and mighty strong.

In another role reversal, Belle's boyfriend Jesse (Henry Simmons) is a stay-at-home man who's eager to settle down with Belle. Her racing obsession signals to Jesse that she's not close to being ready.

Similarly Washburn's in a role reversal situation as well. He's in love with a police sergeant (Jennifer Esposito), who keeps him at a distance.

Queen Latifah loved the way the movie allowed her to show her physical and comic sides.

"The script had a great combination of action and comedy," she said. "But, I really took it on because I like being physical in movies. Taxi gave me the opportunity to drive and do some stunts and have some fun. I have that X gene in me, the one that makes you willing to jump out of planes, ride motorcycles and do karate. I was really looking forward to doing that kind of movie and finally Taxi came along."

She praised Belle's determination to follow her dream. "She just loves racing, to the exclusion of everything. Every dime that she makes after rent and paying the bills goes into the taxi that she's building-this thing that's completely illegal and faster than anything on the streets."

For Washburn, the filmmakers knew they needed a guy with strong comedic skills who could convincingly portray an undercover cop. They chose Jimmy Fallon, who recently departed "Saturday Night Live" as a regular cast member. He makes his feature film debut in Taxi.

Fallon said of his character: "He just loves being a cop. That's what he does best. It's what he's all about. But, he just can't drive. In fact, he just plain sucks at it."

Latifah and Fallon bonded last year when she hosted "Saturday Night Live."

"We had a great time," Fallon recalled. "I couldn't imagine a better person to spend four months with making a movie. If you give her something, she'll roll with it. She's quick that way."

Latifah's recollection of working with Fallon was that the two of them almost ruined scenes by laughing too much.

"We knew from the beginning we would waste a lot of film," she said. "It's hard to keep a straight face when you're working with Jimmy. Sometimes we had a really hard time snapping ourselves out of the laughter."

Director Story called the pairing "magic. I knew they were going to connect. Their chemistry is pure gold."

His only misgiving was that the friendship might interfere with the movie. "I didn't want it to seem like too much of a lovefest on screen, because for half the film, Belle is suppose to be at Washburn's throat. I sometimes had to step in and remind them that there was supposed to be some anger there."

Beyond being at each other's throats, Belle and Washburn never lost sight of their primary goal-catching some sexy and cunning bank robbers.

"These robbers just happen to be hellified drivers, and so is Belle," Latifah said. "So, when she sees some of the moves that they're doing, it kind of intrigues her. It's not just about solving these bank robberies, but it's almost like a personal battle between her and these bank robbers. It's about her skills versus their skills, and Belle refuses to lose this battle."