SOME KIND OF HERO

title: SOME KIND OF HERO

year: 1982

cast: Richard Pryor, Margot Kidder, Ray Sharkey, Ronny Cox
rating: **1/2

Based on James Kirkwood’s novel about an American soldier taken hostage in Vietnam, surviving three years in a prison only to face more challenges back home: his cheating wife spent his money and the army won’t pay him. Richard Pryor plays the lead, and while he can do dramatic roles – BLUE COLLAR is proof… his presence here, donning his signature mustache and not taking every scene very serious, is a miscast. The story begins with Pryor’s capture and then a friendship with fellow prisoner Ray Sharkey. The subject of imprisonment glosses through to the second half: Pryor back home and, having lost everything, robs the government and is eventually mixed up with mobsters. This “Dramedy” has some decent moments – the plight of a desperate man without a port in the storm is involving. And Margot Kidder, as the hooker with a heart of gold, not only helps Pryor through his predicament, but often centers the bee-lining story that’s never quite sure what it is, or where it's going.