STARS: The Pointer Sisters, Richard Pryor.

STORY:

Well, there’s not much of a story here, but it certainly has potential for cult status. I wanted to review this DVD as I hadn’t ever seen this film, but had heard the name crop up all over the place. There must’ve been lots of these disco jive movies pouring out of Hollywood in the 70’s, and I can’t deny it’s got a certain na?ve charm. It actually tried to get heavy on the audience, dude, in the dying minutes of the film; that was totally unexpected as it’s such a lightweight piece. Not sure that it worked, either. However, I’ll bet it would never have been aiming for cinematic greatness, so who cares whether or not the heavy stuff works! It’s essentially the comings and goings of an assortment of oddbods in a day at the wash. There were some amusing scenes as a result, especially when the `resident’ prostitute, and the uptight Beverly Hills mother appeared. We’re talking stereotype heaven if you’re into that kind of humour, and forget this film if you’re into political correctness. There’s also a suspected `mad bomber’ and a shady TV Evangelist (Richard Pryor) complete with entourage among the customers. The wash employees include a budding Marxist revolutionary, a queen, an ex-con, and a native American among others. Oh, the great melting pot that is The City of Angels! Apparently a TV series was based on this film (but didn’t take off), so it must’ve been a hit at the time.

Yep - things sure were funky at the Dee-luxe Hand Car Wash in L.A. in 1976. There is the constant background music piping through the wash from KGYS radio - all tracks courtesy of Rose Royce. That was a plus. There’s also a classic advertising sign stating: “With man power and steam we give the best hand job in town”. Who’d argue with that? This film is a sign o’ the times, babe, that’s for sure! According to the credits, Joel Schumaker wrote the script. This would have to be one of his first jobs in showbiz, surely!

EXTRAS

Basic stuff - scene and language selection, both audio and subtitle. Gotta say, lots of options for languages. There is a motion menu for this DVD, which I like.

OVERALL

I don’t think I’d be tempted to watch this DVD again, certainly not all the way through, but if you like disco musicals like ” Can’t Stop The Music ” or ” The Wiz ” you might consider adding this to the collection. It was okay for light entertainment. Sound is DD 2.0 and should have gone 5.1 for those into the music.