Blue Collar

This is very good indeed. Schrader proves himself extremely capable behind the camera; I was really impressed with the use of the motor industry setting and how it was captured. It collects a number of real-world issues and presents them in a pretty raw manner. I could've watched Kotto, Keitel and the excellent Pryor all night - I thought it was a bit of a shame that the film didn't turn out to be a wacky road movie featuring the debauched antics of the trio. Worth seeing.

As should probably be expected from Schrader, especially at this point in his career, the film is raw and potent, getting into the muscular, profane urgency of these men as they struggle to accept their lot in life, including the inherent betrayals of principle that come with any efforts at upward mobility, and the dangers that loom whenever they try to assert their own power. Harvey Keitel, Yaphet Kotto and Richard Pryor all give typically strong performances.

Few American films have been made about working class life that seem genuine, so it's disappointing that B.C's genre elements aren't seamlessly integrated into its narrative and therefore detract somewhat from the reality being depicted. Nonetheless, Schrader wisely avoids a typical heroes and villains portrayal of labor and capital, exposing the divide and conquer tactics that exist among unions and lower level workers. The characters are well drawn and the acting is strong across the board.

Man movie, ham on the bone. Richard Pryor without his mustache = serious role. It's like with Robin Williams and a beard. Amazing ending scene.

Good movie about unions and class in America. Fine direction from Schrader, and a surprisingly disciplined and restrained performance from Richard Pryor.

Got a very favourable review by Kathe Boehringer on release in the Communist Party of Australia journal, perhaps reflecting the very strong role of a critique of union bureaucracy in later (post-stalinist) CP history. At this time Communists leading the construction industry union (the NSW BLF in particular) were helping to severely restrict permanent union bureaucracy, create very strong member control, and connect worker struggles to green, queer, feminist and anti-imperialist movements.

It took a lot of balls to make Blue Collar. It could've backpedaled in its last half hour, but nope. It's both pleasure and prosecution, functioning equally well in its humanistic layers as with its concepts. After penning Pollack's The Yakuza, Scorsese's Taxi Driver, De Palma's Obsession, Schrader was able to summon that he helm his own material, and Blue Collar is an impressive, surprising launch, taking risks and succeeding with them.

Perhaps not so much the heist comedy it seems like at first, and more a laborer-oriented political drama. It's about the "divide and rule" mechanism that keeps the working class down, with even the worker's union implicated as a culprit. If it has a message, it's probably not too profound -- but nevertheless an enjoyable movie thanks to Paul Schrader's high quality writing, and a truly stellar cast (comic Richard Pryor really holds his own next to Kotto, Keitel and Begley Jr!)

The sort of film that probably would have blue collar workers cheering for it. Harvey Keitel is an actor I always enjoy watching and he's as great as usual here, and this is the first time I've seen Richard Pryor as a dramatic actor and he's surprised me with how good he is -- I'm actually surprised at how good the chemistry is between the three characters, considering how bad it was between the three actors.

It seems like all the great stand-up comics have a great performance in them, and this is Pryor's. Schrader proves his value as a filmmaker and not just a screenwriter.

Along with MISHIMA, Schrader's best directorial effort.

Compelling in its portrayal of working men living an okay, but not great life. What stood out for me was the constant pitting of folks against each other based on various divides. Pryor got a cheap payoff that's nowhere near the stakes they took. Keitel's only going to end up being the government's pawn while some of those responsible might cop plea deals. Kotto's Smokey was MVP. The plot gets predictable in the final act which loses points for me. Fav scene: Kotto trapped in the paint room.

A knowing, cynical portrait of working-class frustration and rage centered around an incredible mad-as-hell Richard Pryor performance. Its disdain for American competitiveness resonates just as strongly a half-century later.

Feels like a directorial debut. Has a lot of potential but I wonder how great this could’ve been under the direction of a Hal Ashby or Schatzberg.

the gradual tonal subsidence caught me so off guard here, not least with what i'd probably dub the most upsetting murder scene of the '70s (no small statement for a decade containing CHINESE BOOKIE, THE HONEYMOON KILLERS and FRENZY). pair it with CLAUDINE as films which stoke a dreadful rage about mass poverty being perpetuated by the very systems ostensibly designed to alleviate it, and the further racial inequality ingrained in those structures. i wish i found it as cynical as others do.

Schrader's take on the power and racism surrounding unions is quite potent. What starts off as a laugh watching Keitel, Pryor, and Kotto dick around ends with some brutal truths. The industrial soundtrack is very effective to give a mean edge to the film.

Paul Schrader's directorial debut is a vivid depiction about how working folk get trapped in circles of low wages and debt (a situation that has only got worse since the late 70's) and how the folks in power breed dissension to keep things that way. The three leads are all in top form. Pryor impresses in a pretty much dramatic role (although he was apparently a drug fueled nightmare to work with).

A funny shape as a fierceful but naive political commitment leaves this in some netherland between thriller entertainment and humanist drama, but nevermind: good writing and acting overcomes. Went overboard with naivete at the end, oh but the energy.

A realist, down-to-earth narrative of Detroit working class men's lives with an attentiveness to everyday comedy and macro-political struggles. It's power lies in successfully eschewing political didacticism and letting the politics radiate from everyday personal-professional relations of the 3 protagonists. A somber and accurate analysis of race-class relations in the dawn of destructive neoliberalism. One cannot help but wonder what happened to these men in 90's. Probably nothing pleasant.

This is why 70's cinema is the best. It is all so hopeless. I love it. Anyway, Richard Pryor is excellent in this film. Yaphet Kotto is great and Harvey Keitel is pretty good. It is Paul Schrader's directorial debut and he makes he film raw and dark and hopeless. The situation these characters get into is rather unsettling; essentially we're sympathizing with criminals, but we know these are good guys just trying to make a living.

Caught it as a late night (2am) showing on SABC. I expected the usual: a boring, old movie that will help cure my insomnia. Instead, Blue Collar did the opposite. I found myself unable to stop watching, and thinking about the film long after the credits rolled. A good film to watch if you're considering a union job, with a terrifically underrated performance from Richard Pryor.

Much better than it looks. Pryor plays a serious dramatic lead here, and it actually works. By far my favorite film of Schrader's directorial efforts

High tragedy, this. People caught in a system they can't get out of. Schrader masks the despair early by letting Pryor do his thing and playing up the friendship and connection these guys share. That the action of the last act hinges on them not hanging out together is, I think, a powerful marker of what creates breakdown in communities, while Zeke's conversation with Jerry on the porch is a masterful breakdown of the dilemma.

More like 'Blues Collar'.

Hollywood is often bad with stories about the problems of the working class. But this picture mournfully creates a world where the fall of an auto union causes its members to turn to crime. As a movie it's a well-made crime drama with high tension, a cool title sequence, and great performances from Pryor & Keitel. In a lesser film the final shot would be preachy. But here it shows how America's manufactured racial divisions prevent class consciousness. Highly recommended and worth discussing.

A great drama that has both aged badly and is still relevant. This is the kind of movie they don't make anymore.

A pretty much flawless drama for which Schrader draws very good performances from Keitel and Kotto. And a surprisingly great one from Pryor.

About as classic a crime caper as you can get, dripping with 70s atmosphere and filled with maybe not groundbreaking, but still incisive takes on race and class for the working man in a bygone era before deindustrialization came and made everything worse.

The same spirit as *The Friends of Eddie Coyle* except transplanted into an automobile plant. A timely film, given the economy and wages in the US. The ending is a bit much.

Good film, great performaces, especially Pryor.

A searing portrait of class and the multilateral oppression suffered by blue collar workers. Each of these three leads brings their A-game, but Pryor takes the cake. My only complaint is a couple periods where I felt the pacing flag a touch, which I seem to be rather sensitive to. Still, the implosion of Zeke and Jerry's friendship makes for a powerful conclusion.

Keitel, Kotto and especially Pryor are phenomenal. Their characters were wildly entertaining, but also true to life. The production design and naturalistic dialogue were great, really captured a late industrial era, right before the bottom was going to drop out of Detroit and the unions as a whole.

Schrader's first directing credit, but it's Richard Pryor that's the real standout. Going toe-to-toe with Harvey Keitel and Yaphet Kotto is no easy feat, but Pryor nailed it. Schrader's directing is a bit rough around the edges (like having a closing shot that was begging for another take) but he mostly does solid work and gets great performances from the leads, who apparently hated each other on set but really sell the fraternity between the characters

This is a well made film. The three leads all give good performances in this movie. The script is good and it has some interesting observations. Overall I would recommend this film.

Feels very real, has a great cast and yet Pryor steals the movie.

For once, a film with real sympathy for the American working person.

Em honra de Yaphet Kotto (1939 - 2021). Comentário sócio-político travestido de filme de assalto na melhor forma, gosto imensamente quando vou ver um filme sabendo apenas de um sinopse besta e encontro um libelo anti-capitalista. Plus: Leiam sobre os bastidores desse filme, é divertidíssimo. Box Versátil O Cinema da Nova Hollywood Volume 2.

Ridiculous premise. Waste of great talent. Shame, shame, shame.

Kapitalizmin beşiğinden, kapitalizmin ve onun arka bahçesine dönüş sendikaların bireyleri ayrıştırmak yoluyla, birlikte mücadele etmelerini ince ince, güzel anlayan bir film. Schrader ilk filminde iyi iş çıkarmış yönetmen olarak.

Great casts do not always make great films.