Detroit Auto Industry Blues in the 1970's
I live near the American Cinematheque in Hollywood and this movie was part of the seventies series the second weekend of May 2007. I believe Paul Schrader really got the lingo down though I strongly suspect some assistence from Richard Pryor, whose angry black man persona wasn't that far away from his classic stand up routines at this period. There's even a party scene where he sniffs coke and has sex with whores along with his buddies Harvey Keitel and Yaphel Kotto. Their desperate situations really tempt them to rob the union which is every bit as corrupt as the auto indistry it serves. Thirty years later, these types of jobs would be gone from Detroit, making this a good time capsule ot this era. It is quite bleak, particulary what happens to Kotto and the last freeze frame of Pryor and Keitel at each other. There is poignancy of the later two, as the viewer sees their unhappy family situations. Definitely worth seeing.