Blue Collar

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 ...