Blue Collar Reviews

Unionism, corruption, and betrayal in a Detroit auto plant. The directorial debut of Paul Schrader, who wrote TAXI DRIVER for Martin Scorsese, is one of surprisingly few films concerned with the pressures and politics of the workplace, where, after all, most adults spend nearly half their waking hours. Co-workers Pryor and Keitel have learned the hard way that union jobs no longer guarantee middle-class comfort; their friend, cynical ex-con Kotto, suggests that they rob a safe in the office of their union local. The break-in yields little cash, but they find an incriminating ledger with which they hope to blackmail the union leadership. The union, unresponsive and complacent when it comes to worker complaints, reacts with deadly efficiency when its power is threatened. A key film for an era of diminishing expectations, BLUE COLLAR depicts big business and big labor as collaborators, expertly manipulating class resentment and racial tension so as to keep the work force divided. The precipitous decline of American unionism since the film's release may blunt the film's impact, however: many viewers will now have cause to reflect that a corrupt union is better than no union at all. The three leads--particularly Pryor, in an essentially non-comedic role--are remarkable.