Ich war Jack Mortimer: A cab ride to nowhere

Is it worth your time?

If you like movies that feel like a cold sweat in black and white, yeah, give this a spin. It’s got that specific, slightly claustrophobic energy of old European noir. If you need explosions or a fast pace to keep you from checking your phone, stay away. This is for people who enjoy watching a guy slowly realize he’s ruined his own life in the span of an afternoon.

Fred Sponer is a taxi driver who clearly spends too much time thinking about what he doesn't have. He’s got that look on his face—the one that says he's just waiting for something to go wrong. Then, he finds the body. The movie doesn't waste time on a grand setup. It just drops the dead guy in the back and lets the panic sink in.

There is this one scene where he’s just staring at the passenger, and the silence is so thick you can almost hear the gears grinding in his head. It’s not flashy, but it’s uncomfortably real. He’s not a master criminal; he’s a guy who’s scared of being blamed for something he didn't do. That fear makes him do increasingly stupid things.

Watching him try to navigate the streets of Budapest feels like watching someone try to walk on ice in dress shoes. He’s slipping everywhere, and the movie is just waiting for him to fall. You’ll probably find yourself wanting to yell at the screen, but honestly, what would you do? It’s a messy, frantic situation.

It’s not as polished as something like The Darkest Hour, but it’s got way more personality than your average studio flick. It’s got these jagged edges that make it feel lived-in, even if the sets look like they’re one stiff breeze away from falling over. Some of the side characters pop up and vanish so fast you wonder if they were just hallucinations.

The pacing is… well, it’s not exactly a sprint. It kind of meanders, then panics, then stops dead. Just like a bad cab ride, really. There’s a specific shadow across the wall in the third act that I think about every time I watch it. Why did the director frame it like that? Who knows. It just looks cool.

Sometimes the dialogue feels like it’s being read from a manual on how to sound suspicious. It’s a bit stiff, sure, but it adds to the whole 'trapped in a nightmare' vibe. You don't come to a movie like this for the sparkling wit, anyway. You come for the dread.

It’s not a masterpiece. It’s just a really solid, nervous little film that refuses to let you get comfortable. If you’ve seen The Road to Ruin, you know how hard it is to balance moral decay with actual suspense. This one manages to do it by keeping the camera pointed squarely at Sponer’s sweaty, terrified face. That’s enough for me. 🚕💨