"Blue Collar" is a simple story masterfully told by co-writer/director Paul Schrader. This dramatic tale tells the story of 3 union auto workers tired of the constant screwing they get from their union. Each man is a hard worker with troubles outside of work to deal with.
Richard Pryor, in easily his best performance, plays a man in trouble with the IRS. He's been claiming more dependents on his taxes then actual kids he really has and now they have caught up to him. At work he has a defective locker that continually cuts his hand when he fights with it. One of the key scenes in the movie is when he goes to his union president who fakes a phone call to the union rep about getting the locker fixed. The message is clear: The union could care less about its workers.
Harvey Keitel is a man with his own problems. His daughter is in such need of braces which he can't afford, one day she tries to put some metal in her mouth herself. And Yaphet Kotto, in a performance that should have merited Oscar consideration, plays a streetwise bad-ass who lives check to check spending money on booze, drugs and women.
One day the three men decide to rob the union safe but end up getting hold of some important information that, if made public, could bring the union down. Soon union thugs and the FBI will become involved. That's as far as I will go with the plot. One of the joys is watching the plot unfold as these three men realize they have gotten in WAY over their heads with something that seemed so simple to begin with. Credit again must fall to director Schrader for keeping things moving and showing a realistic way of life as an auto worker. Every time we are in the plant Schrader blasts the soundtrack with pulsating music. Each man's home life is realistically depicted and the ultimate fate of each man is real and totally believable.
I only have one quibble with this superb but sadly overlooked classic. The final shot is a bit heavy handed and much too abrupt. The film should and could have gone on another ten minutes. Endings seem to be Schrader's Achilles heel as he has the same problem with his equally superb and powerful "Hardcore" which was made the next year. It's ending is much too abrupt and totally unsatisfying as well. But that aside, "Blue Collar" is a film to be seen. Pryor is magnificent in his first major leading dramatic role. I wish he had done more of a mix of comedic and dramatic performances throughout his career because, as proved here, he was certainly up to the task. Keitel and Kotto are equally as fine as Pryor. A great film that deserves to be seen.
Richard Pryor, in easily his best performance, plays a man in trouble with the IRS. He's been claiming more dependents on his taxes then actual kids he really has and now they have caught up to him. At work he has a defective locker that continually cuts his hand when he fights with it. One of the key scenes in the movie is when he goes to his union president who fakes a phone call to the union rep about getting the locker fixed. The message is clear: The union could care less about its workers.
Harvey Keitel is a man with his own problems. His daughter is in such need of braces which he can't afford, one day she tries to put some metal in her mouth herself. And Yaphet Kotto, in a performance that should have merited Oscar consideration, plays a streetwise bad-ass who lives check to check spending money on booze, drugs and women.
One day the three men decide to rob the union safe but end up getting hold of some important information that, if made public, could bring the union down. Soon union thugs and the FBI will become involved. That's as far as I will go with the plot. One of the joys is watching the plot unfold as these three men realize they have gotten in WAY over their heads with something that seemed so simple to begin with. Credit again must fall to director Schrader for keeping things moving and showing a realistic way of life as an auto worker. Every time we are in the plant Schrader blasts the soundtrack with pulsating music. Each man's home life is realistically depicted and the ultimate fate of each man is real and totally believable.
I only have one quibble with this superb but sadly overlooked classic. The final shot is a bit heavy handed and much too abrupt. The film should and could have gone on another ten minutes. Endings seem to be Schrader's Achilles heel as he has the same problem with his equally superb and powerful "Hardcore" which was made the next year. It's ending is much too abrupt and totally unsatisfying as well. But that aside, "Blue Collar" is a film to be seen. Pryor is magnificent in his first major leading dramatic role. I wish he had done more of a mix of comedic and dramatic performances throughout his career because, as proved here, he was certainly up to the task. Keitel and Kotto are equally as fine as Pryor. A great film that deserves to be seen.