November 09, 2010

Blue Collar (1978)


"They'll do anything to keep you on their line. They pit the lifers against the new boys, the old against the young, the black against the white - ANYTHING to keep us in our place."


The directorial debut of screenwriter Paul Schrader (Taxi Driver). Starring Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel and Yaphet Kotto. Both a critique of union practices and an examination of life in a working-class Rust Belt enclave, the film concerns a trio of Detroit auto workers: Zeke Brown (Pryor), Jerry Bartowski (Keitel), and Smokey James (Kotto). Fed up with mistreatment at the hands of both management and union brass, and coupled with financial hardships on each man's end, the trio hatch a plan to rob a safe at union headquarters. They commit the caper, but find a few scant bills in the union safe. More importantly, they also come away with a ledger, evidence of the union's illegal loan-lending operation and ties to organized crime syndicates. They attempt to blackmail the union with the information, but the union retaliates strongly and begins to turn the tables on the three friends. Meanwhile, a federal agent attempts to coerce Jerry into informing on the union's corruption which could make him enemies with his co-workers as well as the union bosses. wiki

4 comments:

  1. This movie is amazing. The end is incredible and I read somewhere that the animosity on display between Richard Pryor and Harvey Keitel was more than just acting.

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  2. I fucking love this film. The scene where the security guard rumbles them is priceless. The best disguises ever. It's a thriller and a comedy. Brilliant fucking movie and hopefully it will never get remade. Touch wood.

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