"Bernie" LaPlante is a pickpocket and petty criminal who anonymously rescues survivors of an aircraft crash, in order to steal some of their purses and wallets â losing a shoe in the process. He later meets a homeless Vietnam veteran, John Bubber, tells him about the rescue at the crash site and gives him his remaining shoe. When a television station offers $1 million to the "Angel of Flight 104", Bernie cannot claim the reward, due to his arrest while fencing credit cards he stole from the people he rescued. Bubber, however, uses the single shoe to take credit for the act. Bernie tries to tell people that Bubber is a fake, but the media has sensationalized the heroic Bubber, and everyone wants to believe in him rather than Bernie.TV reporter Gale Gayley, one of the crash survivors, considers herself to be in Bubber's debt and soon grooms his public image. He turns out to be a decent person, using his notoriety and reward money to help the homeless and sick children. She finds herself falling in love with him even though she has questions about his authenticity, and he finds himself in an ethical dilemma since his lies are inspirational to countless people. Meanwhile, Bernie continues to aggravate ex-wife Evelyn and fails to bond with his son, who is now enamored with the "hero" Bubber. Bernie begins to feel that if his son is going to idolize anyone, perhaps Bubber is the better choice.A detective tells Gale her credit cards were recovered during Bernie's arrest. Gale and her cameraman, Chucky, break into Bernie's apartment with the help of the landlord, Winston. While searching for evidence to incriminate Bernie, Gale finds a stolen Silver Microphone Award that she won in New York City, the night before the crash. Bernie arrives only to be confronted by Gale, who concludes that Bubber stole her purse in a moment of weakness during the rescue, sold it to Bernie, and accuses Bernie of attempting to now blackmail Bubber. They are interrupted by Winston, who says Bubber is on television, about to jump from a high-rise skyscraper. Gale rushes there and brings Bernie along, threatening to have Bernie prosecuted if Bubber leaps to his death. In addition, she demands Bernie apologize for the attempted blackmail. Bernie's wife and son rush there as well, with Evelyn reminiscing how Bernie is selfish and cynical, but always becomes a great human being in a crisis.When they arrive, Bernie goes out on the ledge, hatching a scheme to milk the media attention for all its worth. Ultimately, he convinces Bubber that the world needs a hero, and that Bubber is clearly the right guy for the job, though he does negotiate a discreet share of the $1 million. When Bernie slips off the ledge, Bubber grabs him and pulls him to safety, a (true) hero once more. When she sees Bernie's face with dirt on it, as on the night of the crash, Gale realizes it was Bernie who saved her. She confronts him "off the record" with her supposition, but Bernie insists that Bubber was the hero. As she leaves, however, she thanks him for saving her life; Bernie finally replies, "You're welcome." Gale tells Bernie to tell his son the truth. Bubber agrees to continue playing the part of public hero. While on an excursion to the zoo, Bernie decides to tell his son the true story of the crash. After he does so, a lady cries out that her daughter has fallen into the lion's cage. Bernie's son pleads with him to help, to which he sighs, slips off his shoes, and heads off to see what he can do.
Output: Question: who touched by the tale?, Answer: Bernie