IMDb user comments for
Car Wash (1976) More at IMDbPro »

Filter:

Best Chronological Prolific Authors Loved It Hated It Hide Spoilers:

Page 1 of 4:

[1] [2] [3] [4]

Index

34 comments in total

---

16 out of 17 people found the following comment useful :-
Funny And Influential, 9 January 2000
Author: G-Man-25 from Iowa City, IA

A great ensemble cast, a loose, funky script that left room for improvisation and a great (nonstop) pulsating disco/soul soundtrack make this film a pleasant diversion and definitely a document of its' era. It also served as a blueprint for many other primarily black-cast comedies to come. When writing 1997's "Friday," Ice Cube was quoted as saying he wanted to create a fun film just like "Car Wash." Many funny scenes, some in questionable taste, but still harmless enough. For those who lived through the period, it'll bring back some memories.

---

15 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
A truly nostalgic work of art, 4 May 2003

Author: PopcornMan11 from Los Angeles, CA

You know what...I am sick of people hating on Car Wash. Most of us loved it, and when watching it again, it plays as a homage to the funk of the 70's.

When I first saw Car Wash, I thought it was just a silly goofball movie but watching it again was special. The new DVD comes out may 15 I believe, and it will aim the flick to a hipper audience. Most of us loved the soundtrack, and it is unfair to call this movie "trash".

In my opinion, the director did a great job with Gary Stromberg and Joel Schumacher's ideas. Wonderful film...rent it today for Richard Pryors best work yet!

---

16 out of 19 people found the following comment useful :-
A wonderful document of the 70's, 27 December 1999

Author: Edgar Soberón Torchia (estorchia@gmail.com) from Panama

It is possible that in a hundred years a film like 'Car Wash' will have lost part of its comic effect, but of one thing we can be sure: because of its value as a document of an era, it will aspire to the term of 'classic' more than futile but pretty recreations of the past, such as 'Barry Lyndon' and the Ivory-Merchant productions, all of which may be more efficient technically-wise, but are all lacking a heart. 'Car Wash' is a collective and populist film about the spirit of community. It is also a motion picture with a few symbols thrown in, probably unconsciously. Since their creation, cars have always been a symbol of status: you are what you drive. The happy-go-lucky car washers offer a 'de luxe' service for all: they give the business a 'special touch' with their multi-racial hands --not only Negroes, but also Chicanos and native Americans--, through another symbol: water, the classic icon of purification and universal conscience. Surrounded by a group of very well defined characters (especially, since they are drawn by single strokes, or have very little screen time to develop psychological traits: they are characterized by their actions), three persons stand out: Mr. B (capital), Abdullah (revolution) and Lonnie (kindness.) The greed and neglect of the lustful and amiable car wash owner is contrasted with the anger and resentment of the dry and humorless political activist. In the middle comes the ex convict, who ultimately will settle things around the film's central issue: work. We cannot forget most of the issues referred to in the film in a casual way, as we normally do in daily life, and related to the multiple characters: love, religion, prostitution, parenthood, homosexuality, social climbing, class rejection, money, class struggle, sex, and above all, music, which is the unifying element. Norman Whitfield did such a good job, that he not only established the rhythm of the action, but its atmosphere, tone and feel. It generates such positive energy, that in the end all of the virtues that appear combined with the vices of the fast, consumerist and violent urban life, as well as the suffering of some of the characters, come to the fore: love, compassion, tolerance, patience, solidarity, friendship, happiness. That makes 'Car Wash' a joyful and universal parable of survival in the latter days of capitalism. And that is not an easy achievement for a little film, directed by an African-American and aimed at a very reduced population.

---

11 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Get a Car Wash today fill up and you don't have to pay!, 10 May 2002

Author: moxhambi (moxhambi@hotmail.com) from United States

Following American Graffiti, a bunch of slice of life movies were made. Car Wash is a look at a day in the life of average Joe's who have to work for a living. It looks at people who's dreams can't be wrapped up in their 8 to 6 minimum wage job. Their life, is their cars, their families, their politics, their music. They come to work and try to find ways to make the days bearable. Like sisyphus pushing his rock ever uphill, the only satisfaction, comes at the end of the movie; at the end of the day. The drive for the top has a great beat driven by Rose Royce and punctuation by the pointer sisters. I love the tempo of this little movie and its always satisfied me.

---

5 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
this is what slice-of-life stories are all about, 25 December 2005

Author: Lee Eisenberg (eisenberg.lee@gmail.com) from Portland, Oregon, USA

Richard Pryor's recent death brings to mind all his work, including "Car Wash". This movie portrays one day in the life of several car wash employees in LA. They get a gaggle of wacky customers (including Pryor as cool dude Daddy Rich). Also, some people are trying to develop relationships with each other and such things. Among the other people in the movie are George Carlin as a taxi driver, DeWayne Jessie (aka Otis Day in "Animal House") as one of the employees, and also Antonio Fargas (who apparently played Huggy Bear on "Starsky and Hutch"). Maybe the movie is very much a product of the '70s, but that's part of what makes it so great. A true comedy gem.

---

6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
What a Day?, 23 March 2003
Author: Brian Washington (Sargebri@att.net) from Los Angeles, California

This is one great film. Any film that has both George Carlin and Richard Pryor (even if their roles only amount to cameos) can't be all bad. This film also features one of the most underrated comics of all time in Franklyn Ajaye as T.C.. His attempts at trying to get the beautiful Mona to go out with him are what helps to make this film great. Also, the assortment of characters that hang out at the car wash are what make this film great.

---

8 out of 11 people found the following comment useful :-
It is what it IS, 20 February 2005

Author: wtcouncil from Atlanta, GA

If you like funny....pointless.....sophomoric humour, then this is the film for YOU! I have to admit I saw it when I was 11 years old and just fell in love with it! So, if you have a young child's memory of the film...see it...if you are over the age of 13 seeing it for the first time.....then it is what it is.

Given the fact it was even made in 1976 with a largely African-American cast says volumes. Yes, it has some buffoonery and a little step-and-fetchit, but then....these people were STILL working! Whose working now? And, as what? Final Word. It is light-hearted family entertainment and it could begin a dialogue in the family...something to which many of today's films won't ever aspire.

---

2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
A real delight, 18 February 2007

Author: Woodyanders (Woodyanders@aol.com) from The Last New Jersey Drive-In on the Left

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This very funny, lively and engaging comedy hoot offers a slice-of-life seriocomic cinematic snapshot of a single frantic day at an inner city Los Angeles car wash. Michael Schultz directs with great galvanizing zeal and panache, stringing together a wacky and enjoyable series of freewheeling vignettes with a positively breathtaking sense of smoothness and assurance. Joel Schumacher's witty and colorful script offers plenty of warmth and humanity along with the often uproariously raucous humor. The varied and personable cast have a field day with their vivid characters: Bill Duke as an angry Muslim, Ivan Dixon as a wise, hard-working parolee, Sully Boyar as the harried owner, Franklyn Ajaye as an amiable dreamer, Tracy Reed as a sweet waitress, Antonio Fargas as a flamboyant homosexual, Lorraine Gary as a stuck-up upper class white lady, Jack Kehoe as an affable cowboy, Pepe Serna as a jovial Hispanic, George Carlin as a flaky cab driver, Lauren Jones as a sad hooker, Professor Irwin Corey as a middle-aged guy who's mistaken for a pot bottle bomber, Garrett Morris as a jivey hipster, Melanie Mayron as the sexy cashier, Tim Thomerson as a handsome hunk, Richard Pryor as slick hustler reverend Daddy Rich, and the Pointer Sisters as Daddy Rich's gospel singers. Frank Stanley's polished, sparkling cinematography, Norman Whitfield's funky, dynamic, syncopated soul score, Christopher Holmes' snappy rhythmic editing, and Rose Royce's fabulously groovy classic hit theme song add further bounce and energy to the infectiously frothy, playful and sprightly proceedings. Best of all, there's a constant joy and vibrancy evident throughout which makes this movie an absolute uplifting treat to watch.

---

3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Disc -o dance!!, 4 December 2006

Author: Benjamin Wolfe from USA

The first time I saw this movie I laughed so hard my stomach hurt. My family had owned a car wash, detail company before and I could see that the writer of this movie had done his respective homework on the character development!! The motley crew that we had employed, were just about in the exact same 'vein' of life as these, 'cons' 'crazy men' and 'criminals' that made up the perfect cast in 'Carwash'! I loved this for simple reasons, it simply hit right on it.

Sully Boyer, the car-wash owner was a perfectly in place, dis-placed business owner, complete with bad marriage and regrets of owning the wash and not making it a parking lot, like his brother, who could now buy and sell him. There was T.C. (Theodore Chancey Talcott)played by Franklin Ajaye, who's 'hook' in the story was he was imagining that he would be a super hero, named 'The Fly'. "I'd be sharp, sharp, sharp, man. No one would mess with me." Standing with Lloyd by the rag sinks. But he was also in love with Mona. The fine foxy broad who worked at the café, 'Five Spot'. With the whole 'dryer line' to dry the cars as they pulled out from the washing area. The Mexican worker who would harass his Indian friend and back and forth it would go, all the while on the clock! The fighting couple with the classic Mustang to the hippie Jewish kid, well versed in ghetto speak. This movie had it all. Enter Richard Pryor, as the fast-talking money grabbing Rev. Daddy Rich. accompanied by the Pointer sisters! Hilarious!! The more I watch this the more astounded I am at how true to life and form these characters interact with one another.

Even an ending that was serious enough, to put a well-rounded effect on the out come of the plot and m.o. of the players. It showed, Loni cared about a young upstart punk, enough to see more in him than he himself(Ackbar-'Duane')could see for himself. Loni(Ivan Dixon's character)simply believed in Duane. That was what Duane needed to not end up in prison. He needed someone to believe in him, not use him to rob a company and go straight to prison.

I recommend this highly to those who love the seventies, a great comedic 'everyday' work-situation and doesn't necessarily need car chases or explosions, special effects etc. Bravo. (****)

---

3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
It's a hit!, 16 June 1999

Author: anonymous

Outstanding, lively, well-paced, good-humored and very, very funny ensemble comedy. It has hardly any plot, but lots of great characters, lots of good laughs that keep on coming, and some memorable moments. Some genuinely touching moments fit in well and don't derail the comedy. It has an award-winning sound-track, too.

---

---

Page 1 of 4:

[1] [2] [3] [4]

Add another comment

---

Related Links

Plot summary	Amazon.com summary	Ratings
Awards	Newsgroup reviews	External reviews
Plot keywords	Main details	Your user comments
Your vote history