Car Wash (1976)

Too much of everything

Overrated

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

The material's often questionable, the characters often stereotypes, but the results are pretty darn funny. Nearly all the scenes erupt at an LA car wash where boisterous Black workers and colorful street characters bounce off each other. There're a few subplots but no real story. We get to know the guys and gals over the 90-minutes, usually as they show themselves in humorous situations and not through dialog. It's a distinguished line-up of name comics, with Carlin and Pryor leading that list if not the screen time. Instead, the focus wheels around from one episode to the next like a laughing merry-go-round. At times, more serious pieces intrude like boy-girl problems or just keeping the fun-loving guys at their work. Some might object to what amount to Black stereotypes-Pryor's churchman huckster, the sexy street hooker, the angry Black Muslim, et. al. Then too, some of the humor is time-bound, like Mao's Little Red Book that the White guy wannabe waves around. But that hardly matters when the luscious Mona pours coffee.True, the movie may be a matter of taste since the humor does cut across racial lines. Nonetheless, as a White guy, l got a big bunch of laughs from the loony goings-on. Thanks be to Universal for taking a chance on the tricky material.

It's a day in the life of Dee-Luxe Car Wash in L.A. It's a group fun loving wacky employees. There's Lonnie in charge, angry Duane actually Muslim Abdullah, T.C. trying to win a radio contest and others. The boss Mr. B is having a fling with the receptionist Marsha. His son is a Maoist who wants to work with the proletariat. There are others like George Carlin as a cabbie, Richard Pryor as the slick Daddy Rich and The Pointer Sisters as his backup singers The Wilson Sisters.The movie struggles to have a plot for 90% of the time. It's just a bunch of guys running around, talking trash and working. There isn't actually a plot. The movie is a mile wide and an inch deep. It's hard to connect with the characters when there are so many of them and none of them is the lead. Everybody is a bit wacky. There are some interesting possibilities like Lonnie, Abdullah and T.C. but they don't expand on their stories. That's why the ending is so abrupt. It turns dark and completely different from the rest of the movie. Richard Pryor often gets headline billing but he only has an unfunny ten minute cameo. The writer needs to cut out a few employees and add an actual plot. The song is really cool though. It's noteworthy that Joel Schumacher is the writer. He's not most noted as a good writer.

This movie has much in common with American GRAFITEE. Both are time-capsules of a long bygone era, delightfully nostalgic blasts from the past and both movies have great background music of the times. But while American GRAFITEE took place 11 years prior to its 1973 release date, CAR WASH took place in the present (1976).I saw the movie during its theatrical run in 1978 and I loved it! I later rented the video in the early 1980s. And again, I loved it. So I put my money down and bought the DVD because I love this movie.Unfortunately, the packaging is a little misleading, giving the false impression that Richard Prior and George Carlin were the stars while the crew of the car wash were only the co-stars. Richard Prior was hilarious as the Rev. Daddy Rich. And George Carlin was the perfect choice to play the role of the taxi driver. But their characters took up only a small part of the movie. The Rev. Daddy Rich came, he conned and then he was gone. George Carlin's comic genius was limited to little more than that of the ramblings of a stoned-out, laid-back taxi driver as he drove around in his cab.The real stars who made this movie move, were the ones who ran the car wash, from the lowest paid employee on up to the owner, himself, who was dealing with a busted marriage, a car wash that wasn't making enough money and the owner's son who was a pseudo intellectual hippie wannabee who spent his time quoting Chairman Mao and dreaming of becoming a part of the working class.Each day, the crew of the car wash looked forward to quitting time when they could take off, pursue their dreams and enjoy themselves. That didn't mean that work was all drudgery. Well, it was. But that didn't stop them from having a little bit of fun on the job or to interact with each other as well. This was what made this movie so delightful.In this 97 minute piece of craziness and lunacy, some very serious subplots lurked deep within its plot. For example, one employee, an ex-con, trying to make an honest living was trying to stay out of trouble while another employee was out to make as much trouble as possible. This movie is a timepiece that contains a slice of how life was in the 1970s when disco was king and everybody just wanted to have some good times.

I first watched this film when i was about 10 years old and have loved it ever since.A great film with loads of fun lines. This is a well under rated movie and should be recognised for its comical brilliance.Although Richard Pryor is on the front cover of the DVD/Video, he only plays a small but great part in the film. Antonio Fargas plays an eccentric gay man with some great one liners. If you enjoyed The Blues Brothers movie then give this a try, although is not at-all like TBB movie it has the same comical feel.This movie screams "THE SEVENTIES" with flares and Afro's galore. In my opinion this is one of the best films from the 70's.