Richard Pryor's face is plastered all over the cover of Car Wash, but don't be fooled. This slight comedy, made in 1976, is an ensemble piece much like Robert Altman's or Alan Rudolph's all-star movies in that there are a lot of familiar faces who have relatively little screen time or business to attend to. Set in smoggy Los Angeles, the film opens with a radio announcer's voiceover, "Hey, hey, L.A. It's a brand new day." And the camera pans the street, zooming in on the Dee-Luxe Car Wash, which is owned by the ultimate cheapskate, Mr. B (Sully Boyar). In rapid succession, we're introduced to a dizzying array of characters who all work or hang out at the car wash: drag queen Lindy (Antonio Fargas), brothers Floyd and Lloyd who want to be in show business, a hip brother, an angry brother, a taxi driver (George Carlin), cashier Marsha (Melanie Mayron), and a plethora of "types" who wash, dry, and polish everything in sight while making time to make time. Car Wash doesn't do much or have a lot to say, the laughs aren't particularly original, and the actors don't have much to do save for Fargas, whose role as a drag queen was groundbreaking because the character wasn't discriminated against or killed at the end. Even Richard Pryor is wasted in his single scene as a wealthy preacher named Daddy Rich. Car Wash, which was written by mainstream director Joel Schumacher (Batman and Robin, Falling Down, The Client), is ultimately uneventful. Its revival on DVD is puzzling because it looks about as faded, dated, and undistinguished as a rusty old car. --Paula Nechak
(10 votes)
2.
Director Michael Schultz follows up his critically acclaimed and commercially successful COOLEY HIGH with this hilarious day-in-the-life tale set in modern day Los Angeles. At Sully Boyar's car wash, a juvenile, motley crew of city dwellers "work their fingers to the bone" waiting on the eccentric and sometimes haughty clientele. Throughout the day, the young men find time to indulge in personal pursuits: one fellow fantasizes about the pretty waitress working at a local restaurant, a militant preaches politics, while more disgruntled workers find a way to justify their laziness. As the day wears on, the many levels of oppression that control each individual's lives gradually become apparent. Luckily, Schultz and screenwriter Joel Schumacher don't dwell on the potentially depressing aspects of their subject matter; proving that sometimes laughter is the best medicine, they stuff their film with enough verbal, visual, and situational humor to keep the audience laughing throughout. This can also be attributed to the performances by the all-star ensemble of performers, including Franklin Ajaye, Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Bill Duke, and Garrett Morris. Cementing the deal is the film’s soundtrack, which features the soulful music of diva Rose Royce.
(9 votes)
3.
Comic superstars Richard Pryor and George Carlin join musical guests like the Pointer Sisters in the incredible ensemble cast of this urban comedy about a day in the life at L.A.'s Dee-Luxe Car Wash. There, a drag queen, a revolutionary, an ex-con, an Afro-wannabe, a suspected bomber (Professor Irwin Corey), and a cabbie (Carlin) chasing a fare-beater all come together in soul and song-filled fun. Pryor, who worked with the director Michael Schultz again on Greased Lightning and Which Way Is Up?, the following year, is Daddy Rich, a flamboyant Reverend who preaches the goodness of the dollar. Written by Joel Schumacher (D.C. Cab), the film features Ivan Dixon (Hogan's Heroes), blaxploitation star Antonio Fargas (Shaft, Foxy Brown), Garrett Morris of Saturday Night Live and the hit title song, Work it!
(9 votes)
4.
Car Wash is about a close-knit group of black employees who one day have all manner of strange visitors coming onto their forecourt, including Richard Pryor as a preaching 'wonder-man' who is loved by most but loathed by one, and a man who looks like a thief by the way he is holding his bottle, but it is really his urine sample as he is off to the hospital. T.C's love life takes a turn for the better and the songs keep coming.
(6 votes)
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