We're well on our way to filling the new Oscar category of Best Taxi Cab in a Supporting Role.

"Collateral's" ultra-clean cab driven by Jamie Foxx has the dramatic angle locked down. And now the comedic approach gets a chance, with Queen Latifah's supercharged yellow cab in "Taxi," opening Wednesday.

"Collateral" was too good a movie to leave us much time for ruminating about the cab. "Taxi" isn't quite a bad movie, but its slack comic timing may have you wishing they gave the Crown Vic a speaking part. Director Tim Story inserts double takes and other mugging when the script falls apart, and while nobody chews out a fool like Latifah, a little bit of that goes a long way on the big screen.

Because the plot is so thin, "Taxi" takes its sweet time introducing characters. Latifah is Belle, a champion New York bicycle messenger who finally wins her cabbie license after years of souping up her cab in preparation. She picks up a midtown businessman and gets him to JFK in seven minutes, admitting how "I don't usually stop for white guys. It's my way of balancing out the universe."

"Saturday Night Live" alum Jimmy Fallon will be the foil, a hapless vice detective who loses his driver's license and has to take the bus - in full Cubano gangsta disguise - to a bust.

Hiring Belle's cab for a subsequent ride, they stumble across a group of supermodels, who rebel against the injustice society dealt them by robbing banks. Giselle Bundchen drives as well as she pouts. Those relentless supermodels! They can do anything they set their minds to!

The formula is far more predictable than your average crosstown fare. Fallon fights with his lieutenant and former girlfriend, played by Jennifer Esposito as if she were dressing for the next scene in an office-based porn flick. He gets fired from the force, but finds inner resolve to chase those pesky supermodels on his own time.

Minor scenes that should be two seconds stretch on a full minute. Dialogue is occasionally reduced to this level: "It was that stupid idiot right there, with that dumb look on his face."

While Fallon is clearly the worst cop in history and uses "Ace Ventura" as his model, the chase scenes are gritty and jarring. Latifah is fun to watch, but too often "Taxi" makes her play the Mouthy Ethnic Woman instead of the more interesting role buried here, that of a proud, blue-collar optimist.

In spite of itself, "Taxi" develops a chemistry. Fallon's consistent bumbling stirs Latifah's friendlier instincts, and besides, she needs her impounded cab back. Fallon thrives on a baseless bravado that seems infectious instead of sickening.

"Taxi" also gives fun and stereotype-breaking minor parts to Latifah's "Baby-I-cooked-for-you" boyfriend, Henry Simmons, and Fallon's lush mother, Ann-Margret. For those who want to watch with the sound turned down, the supermodels do a lot of preening for the cameras and purposeless changes of outfits, and there's no crime in that.

By the end of the movie, Latifah's Belle is the first black woman driving NASCAR races, telling Jeff Gordon to bring it on. Now that could be a funny movie.

TITLE: "Taxi"DIRECTOR: Tim StoryCAST: Queen Latifah, Jimmy Fallon, Gisele Bundchen, Jennifer Esposito, Ann-MargretRATED: PG-13 (violence, language)GRADE: * * ½ (on a scale of 5)