Get Your Reps In: Richard Pryor Meets NASCAR in “Greased Lightning”

What to see at Portland’s repertory theaters.

Greased Lightning (Warner Bros. Pictures)
By Chance Solem-Pfeifer

Greased Lightning (1977)

Before biopics became highly valued and managed marriages of licensed IP and celebrity estates, the movies could more or less do as they liked. That’s the charm of Greased Lightning, a loose biography of the first Black NASCAR champion, Wendell Scott, that will be shown in 35 mm as part of the Portland Black Film Festival.

Starring a career-peaking Richard Pryor as Scott, the film casually morphs from cute love story to breezy bootlegger comedy to gleefully exaggerated comeback story. For his part, Pryor plays Scott very straight, stripping back his razor-sharp truthteller persona to a youthful earnestness.

Scott’s support system includes his wife (Pam Grier), childhood best friend (Cleavon Little) and crew chief (Beau Bridges), all helping push a pioneering and unlikely career forward. Director Michael Schultz is at the helm, fresh off Cooley High and Car Wash, and brings a similarly light touch and appealing character camaraderie to his collaboration with Pryor (they also teamed for Which Way Is Up?) as Scott’s racecar ambitions evolve from pipe dream into underdog gold. Hollywood, Feb. 26.

ALSO PLAYING:

5th Avenue: Get Out (2017), Feb. 24-26. Academy: Super Fly (1972), Feb. 24-March 2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (2011), Feb. 24-March 2. Cinema 21: Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961), Feb. 25. Cinemagic: The Seventh Curse (1986), Feb. 22. Clinton: Ma (2019), Feb. 23. Candyman (1992), Feb. 24. Tales From the Hood (1995), Feb. 25. Quilombo (1984), Feb. 27. Hollywood: The Mask (1994), Feb. 24. Seven Chances (1925), Feb. 25. Basket Case (1982), Feb. 25. Truck Turner (1974), Feb. 28.

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