In its erratic narrative, random assortment of characters, and omnipresent soundtrack, Car Wash captures something perfectly: the rhythms of a working-class work day.
80
Time Out
Time Out
The remarkable thing is the way characters, jokes and meaning are dovetailed into a single rhythmic flow that makes the film look like TV's Laugh-In redesigned as a Minnelli musical. Highly enjoyable.
75
TV Guide Magazine
TV Guide Magazine
Low-key comedy detailing a day in the life of an L.A. car wash, featuring an ensemble cast of superb performers.
75
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
Critics seemed to like this less than audiences; personally I had a ball.
Car Wash uses gritty humor to polish clean the souls of a lot of likeable street people.
50
The New YorkerPauline Kael
The New YorkerPauline Kael
A junk-food mixture of poetry, black anger, bathroom humor, and routines that have come through the sit-com mill.
50
Newsweek
Newsweek
Using none of the sharp, ironic juxtapositions that lent its predecessors so much energy, Car Wash is content to be just a day in the life of the title establishment. [04 Oct 1976, p.89]