(1978)
4
Michael Betzold
Richard Pryor's best dramatic performance is at the heart of Blue Collar, a rare American film that casts an unflinching look at the high-pressure life of working-class people. Acclaimed screenwriter Paul Schrader (who wrote such films as Taxi Driver and Raging Bull) made his directorial debut with this simmering story about three desperate Detroit autoworkers (played by Pryor, Harvey Keitel, and Yaphet Kotto) who plot to rob their own union. Both the merciless corporation and the corrupt union are their enemies in this bleak, profane, but spirited film. The subject matter of real, unglamorous people is usually off-limits for Hollywood, but Schrader wisely resists the temptation to glamorize his protagonists. Pryor shows tremendous range in a role that uses his expressive humanity for other than comic purposes. His lost, weary, cheated character is at the core of the film's considerable moral weight.
Blue Collar on AllMovie
Blue Collar (1978)
