Blue Collar

Paul Schrader's directorial debut examines the trials of Detroit autoworkers living at the mercy of a heartless corporation and a corrupt union. Surviving from paycheck to paycheck, Checker Cab assembly linemen Zeke (Richard Pryor), Jerry (Harvey Keitel), and Smokey (Yaphet Kotto) scrape by and take ...more

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 ...more