Some Kind of Hero Reviews

Although much was lost from James Kirkwood's novel in its transition from the printed page to the screen (despite the author's collaboration on the screenplay), Richard Pryor's assured tragicomic performance is so engaging that this otherwise forgettable film is not only worth watching, but often compelling. Pryor plays Eddie Keller, an Army conscript who spends five years in a North Vietnamese POW camp, cleverly getting the best of his captors, but ultimately signing a statement denouncing US involvement in Indochina so that his fellow prisoner and friend, Vinnie (Ray Sharkey), will be given proper medical treatment. That denunciation catches up with Eddie when he returns home and is denied his back pay because of it. Moreover, he learns upon his return that his wife has taken up with another man, his business is bankrupt, and his mother has been institutionalized. Hitting bottom, Eddie finally finds comfort in his relationship with Toni (Margot Kidder), the archetypal prostitute with a heart of gold, but not before turning to crime.