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.
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]