Style: Heist Drama
Director: Paul Schrader
Starring: Richard Pryor, Harvey Keitel, Yaphet Kotto
Operating Time: 114 minutes
Synopsis: In Detroit, automobile meeting line employee Zeke Brown (Richard Pryor) is experiencing monetary hardship and is sad with the union management’s dismissive perspective. His pal and co-worker Jerry (Harvey Keitel) can also be struggling to offer for his household, whereas their colleague Smokey (Yaphet Kotto) has a hefty legal file. The three disgruntled males plot a seemingly easy heist of the union workplace protected, however the consequence isn’t what they anticipate.
What Works Nicely: Author and debut director Paul Schrader faucets into working class frustrations and emerges with a forceful story of financial malaise, racial tensions, employee exploitation, and energy imbalance. The themes are nurtured organically via the granular experiences of three bizarre males pushed into crime, the place they discover each much less and greater than they bargained for. Richard Pryor delivers an brisk profession spotlight in a largely dramatic position, and is ably supported by Harvey Keitel and Yaphet Kotto. Assorted supervisors, union reps, and oily bosses characterize an entrenched system, and Schrader punctuates the drama with sweaty photos of life on the meeting line set to the thumping sound of Jack Nitzsche’s Exhausting Workin’ Man.
What Does Not Work As Nicely: Smokey’s backstory and private life are poor in comparison with Zeke and Jerry, and their wives are diminished to afterthoughts.
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