Car Wash (1976)

86% of critics liked it
(21 reviews)
58% of users liked it
(7,799 ratings)

Michael Schultz directed this kinetic, hyperventilating comedy (scripted by Joel Schumacher) concerning the crazed events that go on within a single 10-hour period at a Los Angeles car wash. The cast of colorful car-wash employees includes Lonnie (Ivan Dixon), an ex-con; Duane (Bill Duke), a… More Michael Schultz directed this kinetic, hyperventilating comedy (scripted by Joel Schumacher) concerning the crazed events that go on within a single 10-hour period at a Los Angeles car wash. The cast of colorful car-wash employees includes Lonnie (Ivan Dixon), an ex-con; Duane (Bill Duke), a militant black activist; and Lindy (Antonio Fargas), an obnoxious homosexual. Sully Boyar plays Mr. B, the frazzled car-wash owner who has to deal with his screwball employees along with his over-educated slip of a son, Irwin (Richard Brestoff), who quotes Mao and wants to radicalize the workers. Also along for the wash and wax are Miss Beverly Hills (Lauren Jones), with a wild assortment of wigs; Marsha (Melanie Mayron), the distracted car wash secretary; a mad bomber (Prof. Irwin Corey), who is terrorizing the neighborhood; and Daddy Rich (Richard Pryor), the founder of the Church of Divine Economic Spirituality, who sports a gold limousine. Danny de Vito, Brooke Adams and others were originally in the cast but their scenes were ultimately deleted. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 37 min.
Directed By: Michael Schultz
Written By: Joel Schumacher
Genres: Comedy

In Theaters: Oct 22, 1976 Wide
On DVD: Apr 7, 1998

Critic Reviews

Variety Staff, Variety
Uses gritty humor to polish clean the souls of a lot of likeable street people.
Vincent Canby, New York Times
A cheerful, somewhat vulgar, very cleverly executed comedy...
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
The screenplay and the direction juggle the characters so adroitly, this is almost a wash-and-wax M*A*S*H.
Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
Critics seemed to like this less than audiences; personally, I had a ball.
Rob Nelson, City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul
Car Wash marks the point at which defiant blaxploitation turned decisively into upbeat crossover entertainment.
, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Norman Whitfield's great musical score is integrated into the movement of the scenes to give the film a funky rhythm.
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
It was both a riot and surprisingly had something poignant to say about race relations.
Tom Milne, Time Out
Highly enjoyable.
Ken Hanke, Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)
Surprisingly good ensemble comedy with Antonio Fargas a standout.
Jon Niccum, Lawrence Journal-World
Funny antics with great cast
, Film4
There's no plot as such, just a collection of gags, issues and themes...
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com
One of the best of its ilk.

Read all 12 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

AJ V

Not quite what I expected from what I'd heard about it, but it's a good movie. It has some really funny scenes, and good music.
Anthony L

One star for five minutes of Richard Pryor! The rest is quite boring.
Daniel H

A fine blaxploitation-era comedy, which juggles an amazing number of characters with almost no confusion whatsoever, with subplots and a jokes on as many different levels of appeal as there are characters. Lively and entertaining.
Lesley N

Take a whole bunch of lively characters, shove em in a bag, shake em up a bit and then dump em out in a car wash for a day, and this is what you get. Cracking good fun to watch, and of course a killer soundtrack.
Leo L

Great!

Cast

            Franklyn Ajaye as T.C.

            Sully Boyar as Mr. b.

            Richard Brestoff as Irwin

            George Carlin as Taxi Driver

            Irwin Corey as Mad bomber

            Ivan Dixon as Lonnie

            Bill Duke as Duane

            Antonio Fargas as Lindy

            Michael Fennell as Calvin

            Arthur French as Charlie

            Lorraine Gary as Hysterical Lady/ Miss Beverly Hills

            Darrow Igus as Floyd

            Leonard Jackson as Earl

            DeWayne Jessie as Lloyd

            Lauren Jones as Marleen

            Jack Kehoe as Scruggs

            Henry Kingi as Goody

            Melanie Mayron as Marsha

            Garrett Morris as Slide

            Clarence Muse as Snapper

            Leon Pinkney as Justin

            The Pointer Sisters as The Wilson Sisters

            Richard Pryor as Daddy Rich

            Tracy Reed as Mona

            Pepe Serna as Chuco

            James Spinks as Hippo

            Ray Vitte as Geronimo

            Ren Woods as Loretta

            Jason Bernard as Parole Officer

            Erin Blunt as Lonnie's Son

            Carmine Caridi as Foolish Father

            Danny DeVito
            
            Ben Frommer
            
            Sarina C. Grant as Newscaster

            Bonnie Pointer
            
            Otis Sistrunk as Otis

            Tim Thomerson as Ken

            J.J. Jackson as 2nd PM Disc Jockey

            Anita Pointer
            
            June Pointer
            
            Ruth Pointer
            
            Jay Butler as AM Disc Jockey

            Derek Schultz as Foolish Father's Son

            Antonie Becker as Charlene

            Reginald H. Farmer
            
            John Linson
            
            Joel Schumacher
            
See full cast