Which Way Is Up?

The inimitable Richard Pryor is a triple threat in this irreverent, socially conscious satire (and remake of a Lina Wertmüller film!). In one of three roles, Pryor stars as Leroy Jones, a hapless California orange picker and accidental labor organizer who falls in and out of the arms of three women: his newly liberated wife, a new-agey activist, and a tiger-in-the-sheets preacher’s wife. The sex farce set-up makes room for subtle critiques of corporate exploitation and religious hypocrisy, while Pryor plays opposite himself in two hilarious supporting turns: as his own randy, mightily whiskered father and an electric-guitar-playing, fire-and-brimstone reverend whose sermon on sin is worth the price of admission alone.