United States

This fast-moving comedy is laced with poignancy and drama as Pryor assays one of the finest roles of his career as Eddie Keller, a man who returns home after six years as a P.O.W. to find his world changed. Eddie has every right to expect a hero's welcome but nothing has stayed the same. His wife loves another man and lost his savings; a daughter he's never seen calls the new boyfriend "Daddy"; his mother is recuperating from a stroke; the Army is withholding his back pay; and he can't get a loan because he has no collateral. He meets a sympathetic soul in Toni (Margot Kider), a high-class hooker. Realizing he must take some kind of action, Pryor begins a desperate and funny escapade into the world of crime.