Good story, Not enough for a whole film

An Exercise In Nonsense

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

This is strictly for Pryor fans. Just because he was a great, funny guy doesn't mean this is more than a B-Movie. The script is awful, it just meanders around constantly ridiculing crime and prisoners of war. It balances between comedy and melodrama and keeps falling on its face doing justice to neither. First there are 30 minutes of rather unrealistic, uninspired Vietnam prisoner of war time – the guy is playing basketball at one point... How more can you pander to your audience?... That prison time is boring, unconvincing and already can easily put one to sleep. Back in the U.S. the guy for no real reason at all is considered a "war hero". Yet he is of course quickly forgotten by the public and seems to be stumbling into all kinds of wacky mishaps. Or are they really? We will soon find out. Yawn. There are annoying clichés: his sick mother, his little daughter he never meets, a high end whore falling in love with the hero etc. It is very odd how this movie constantly switches from tragedy to slapstick in one instant. Doesn't work at all. Overall this in fact is just a bad comedy and does a disservice to prisoners of war. Just because this guy was a great stand-up comedian, played in a few good movies and died of MS is no reason not to be annoyed by this silly, unconvincing, unfunny comedy. But if you like Richard Pryor you will probably be thrilled by him reading 3 hours of Dadaist poetry.

**SPOILERS** Somewhat Average movie, with an above average performance by Richard Pryor, about a war veteran coming back home to find that his life turned upside down since he went away. Caught by the North Veitnamese with his pants down Cpl. Eddie Keller, Ricard Pryor, ends up in a communist Vietnamese POW camp for five years.With nothing to eat but rice and roaches and having a pet rat as a cell-mate things pick up a bit for Eddie when he had another US POW Vinnie Diangelo, Ray Sharkey, as company but even that turned out to be a tragedy for Eddie with Vinnie dying, and without any medical care, he signed a statement saying that the US was committing war crimes in Vietnam in order to get Vinnie help. All that did for Eddie, Vinnie seemed to have died anyway, was brand him a traitor, Eddie was later cleared of that accusation, and indefinitely holds up his severance pay for spending five years behind bamboo bars for his country.Back home things got even worse for Eddie by him first finding out that his wife Lisa, Lyne Moody,was living with another man, who together with Lisa blew all of Eddie's savings, and has a young six year old daughter who doesn't even know that he's her father and on top of all that his mom Jesse Keller, Olivia Cole, is in a nursing home that she's about to be thrown out of because there's no money to pay her bills. With no money in his wallet and no money coming in from the US Army Eddie in an act of desperation tries to become a stick-up artiest only to fail miserably; at one point Eddie was so scared trying to rob a bank that he embarrassingly wet himself to the shock and outrage of the bank teller that he tried to rob. Eddie finally hits it big by following two security men Tank and Mickey, Martin Azarow & Matt Clark, who work for the Fidelity Western Bank into an office building with two suitcases loaded with some $250,000.00 in cash and securities. Catching one of the security men, Tank, in the mens room with his, not Eddie's, pants down and robbing him at "toy gun" point then taking off with the suitcase loaded with the securities, not cash, Eddie now has to find someone to convert them for him and the only one's who can do that are those who work for the mob.Richard Pryor in his second, the 1978 movie "Blue Collar" was his first, non all comedy role is both touching and courageous as Cpl.Eddie Keller who tries to make things better for himself and his mom but ends up being the real, not the made up, hero in the eyes of his friends in and out of the army. Nice supporting roles in the movie by both Margot Kidder and Ronny Cox as high-priced hooker Toni Donovan and Eddie's fellow GI Col. Powers who tries to ease Eddie back into civilian life.Feel-good ending with Eddie chased by the mob who tried to rip off, not convert, his stolen government bonds and then attempted to murder him. Eddie turns the tables on the mobsters and at the conclusion of the movie ends up, like the song says, taking care of business with everyone the bank the army and the nursing home that his mom is in, including himself and Toni, ending up much better off for it.

This movie can be brilliant in many ways.For it's mixing of Comedy and Drama. Richard Pryor's portrayal of Vietnam vet Eddie Keller is so human,Funny,fragile,sad.But in the end.A triumph of the human spirit.He gets caught with his pants down by the enemy in Vietnam.Literally.He then is thrown in a prison camp.A friendship grows between him and a mouse then another ensues with A Pow. The viet-kong wants him to sign a document basically saying the U.S army is wrong for engaging in the war.He turns the kong general down several times.Until his POW pal Turns very ill.So in order to get his a friend a doctor he signs it and is on his way back home to the US. He discovers a whole lot has changed since being in the prison camp.He has a daughter.His wife loves somebody else.She and her new love changed the bookstore into a novelty shop and it went bankrupt.On top of all that she mentions that Eddie's mother had a Stroke and can hardly talk.Very touching scene. More bad news.He's behind in the nursing home payments and if he can't pay.She can't stay. But he's expecting back pay from the military.Or so he thought.The problem is he signed that document.Military considers it a act of treason.So he can't get his back pay. So he goes to a bar to try and come 2 a resolution and meets Toni(Margot Kidder)Very sexy as a hooker with a heart of gold in this movie.They hook up and get close.So he has to get the money up some how.So he decides to rob a couples stores and banks.Or at least tries.Until he sees these two guys with bags of money making a withdrawal out of the bank and he decides to follow them and ............. I'm telling too much.You have to watch the movie to know the rest.There are some things that aren't resolved by the movie's end.Like Eddie's relationship with his wife,daughter and the military issue.Other than that Great Movie.Great Music.Love the score and theme song.Great Performance from Richard Pryor,who puts strong emotions and movie he's made.He's a comic genius,god.The greatest in my opinion.So I would recommend u see this film for a good story,a good laugh,a good cry,and Most importantly for Richard Pryor. see Blue Collar 1978'. Another great film and performance from Daddy Rich.

Richard Pryor is the reason to see this movie. He takes a somewhat ordinary story, of a soldier who returns home from a Vietnam POW camp, to a less than welcome home, and makes it a better movie. His trying to look tough and menacing, and acting it out in front of a mirror, is really good ("Freeze, sucka! Get DOWN!!"), and then having all his efforts totally evaporate at the bank! A welcome movie to see, I recommend it. 7/10