Character Analysis
(Avoiding Spoilers)
Living… in New York City, where he still lives with his mother. His home away from home is “Louieland,” his domain within the Sunshine Cab Company. In Louieland, he’s the President, Congress, and Supreme Court. If his drivers want America, they can walk out the door.
Profession… head dispatcher for the Sunshine Cab Company. Louie relishes his position inside his elevated caged-in office, throwing down insults from his low-rent ivory tower. He is generally disdainful of his drivers and loves giving them a hard time. He rarely indulges the drivers’ non-cabbie professional aspirations: “There's only one person who ever made it out of this garage, and that was James Caan...and he'll be back!!”
Interests… hustling. One of the perks of having no moral code is being able to make money by any means necessary. Louie is shameless in his love of gambling and screwing people over. As he tells his driver Alex Rieger: “Let's face it, Rieger, crime pays. You know people go around thinking if they do something bad, then something bad has gotta happen to them. Well, I am living proof that that's not true.”
Relationship Status… single. Louie is unequivocally opposed to marriage or anything more than “getting lucky.” He considers love to be the end of happiness and fodder for talk shows. Nevertheless, he did have an ongoing rocky relationship with Zena. The two seemingly had nothing but utter contempt for each other, yet neither one could let go. Once that ended, Louie went back to begging his attractive driver Elaine for a date. Frankly, Louie has no shot there.
Challenge… being vertically challenged. But really, Louie’s biggest adversary is himself. His attitude and lack of emotional intelligence make him who he is and keep him from becoming anything more. He’s comfortable with his job and curious living situation, and tends to be annoyed by any possibility of change.
Personality… mischievous, which is a polite word for his personality. Louie loves taking advantage of drunk women, gambling with children, and daydreaming about putting his mother in a nursing home. But when Louie sees one of his drivers in genuine need, he’ll sometimes comfort them in his own begrudging way. His abrasive exterior is not an act, but he isn’t rotten to the core.
