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So much average

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Jafar Panahi is banned from making movies so he disguises as a taxi driver and makes one in a taxi cab. He didnot change his appearance of course but wore a hat and made a documentary-like film mostly while driving in the streets of the capital Tehran.Panahi used non professional actors to perform the scenes, so the acting was rather bad and didnot seem normal at all as Panahi intended. The dialogue was more like a speech with a lot of messages to the authorities.. It was not like anything written for a movie not even if it is considered a documentary. Panahi only gathered what Iran is criticized for and just made the non professional actors state them bluntly.Yes I am familiar with the situation he is in and saying it objectively: if you want to do something whether you are right or wrong do it properly. After all he was the Kiarostami's assistant (the director of close-up, one of the best movies I have ever seen).All in all the execution was weak with no creativity in it.. He failed to connect with the social and cultural realities of Iran and really failed to connect on the emotional level through the stories he made with the audience. I expected much more.

Something like this will definitely accidentally fool many into believing it is real, but its primary aim isn't that and instead it weaves in a really diverse, dynamic group of characters that makes for a rather significant, if not always engaging feature. Something about it always kept me at a distance, both emotionally and being able to fully connect with it. In the end, I definitely admire and appreciate it more than I actually enjoyed it. That's not to say it didn't have many moments that were both emotionally-grabbing and funny. The film has a mostly well-balanced tone in terms of how it focuses on its humor and how it uses it to advance many of its thematic points. Overall, a success.

I've never heard of Mr Panahi before this film, had no idea as to the state of Iranian film making and had never seen an Iranian film before. That's why I went, chiefly.And I'm glad I did, although towards the end I did feel time started to drag a little. Because even though the later characters were just as interesting and entertaining as the first ones, to me the expositional technique used in the same location can feel a little claustrophobic and monotonous after a while.As the film progresses you get little snapshots of passengers lives, outlook and opinions. And there is a crowd pleasing little star in the shape of the director/driver's 'pretty little niece' (her description). Her encounter with the street boy is charming although for me, could have benefited from a stronger resolution.The story that really intrigued me though was when the driver's old friend gets into the taxi and we hear about his harrowing experience and the forthcoming lack of justice. Would have liked to have drilled down more into this to examine his motives behind not seeking revenge or retribution, but it isn't that type of film and so it was onto the next character.So a rewarding experience although I viewed it as much an education as a piece of entertainment.

Some films can't be fully appreciated without knowledge of the way they have been conceived. This is clearly the case for 'Taxi Teheran'. The story behind it: Iranian film maker Jafar Panahi has been convicted by the regime for making 'subversive' films, and is no longer allowed to film in Iran. Consequently, Panahi has switched to making 'stealth' films: his film making is no longer visible. These films are smuggled out of the country and showed in art-house cinemas around the world. 'Taxi Teheran' is filmed with a dash cam. It shows Panahi as a taxi driver in Teheran, talking with his passengers, and discussing the hot political topics in Iran he is not allowed to touch upon. His passengers talk about the death penalty, about political prisoners, about the male-centred inheritance laws, or about Ghoncheh Ghavami, the woman who got a prison sentence for attending a volleyball game. Panahi cleverly links the political issues to real-life situations, such as the wish of a of a motorcycle accident victim, to have his last will and testament filmed with a smart-phone, before he passes away. The film is far from boring and has some funny moments. It's all done in a documentary style, without any artificial cinematographic additions. Still, everything is staged, and some camera movements and cuts make clear that Panahi is a professional director. Unfortunately, just its being made in a stealth mode doesn't mean 'Taxi Teheran' is a terrific film. It largely depends on the dash cam-gimmick, which wears off after a half hour or so. The story itself is too meager to carry the whole film, and some of the taxi passengers are just not interesting enough to grab the viewer's attention.