Bustin' Loose

Over the years when nothing else is on I watch Bustin' Loose from time to time, it is such a good feel good movie. Neat story which has Richard Pryor as con man Joe Braxton who is maneuvered into taking a group of disturbed kids from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania along with their teacher Cicely Tyson to a farm in Washington state owned by the aunt and uncle of Cicely Tyson. This movie is a great journey of respect and friendship it shows just how that no matter how different people are they can become friends and learn to care and respect one another. This is not typical Richard Pryor you don't find much strong language but Pryor is plenty enough his comical and funny self to make this film a winner. So if you haven't seen this give it a watch it shows from time to time on cable. Probably one of the better movies of Richard Pryor.

This is one of those movies that, unless you have too many expectations, turn out to be quite entertaining. It stars Richard Pryor as an ex-con who agrees to transport a teacher (Cicely Tyson) and eight misfit children from Philadelphia to Washington, as part of his probation. Richard Pryor is known for his abilities in physical comedy. Surprisingly enough, the best part of the film are the more emotional scenes, where he gets to interact with the children. However, there are some other scenes, clearly going for the big laughs, that are not as successful, like the one with the KKK or the ones in the bank near the end of the film, and they threaten to spoil the fun. "Bustin' loose" is a good comedy, although it would have been even better if the script had relied more on Pryor's relationship with the children than on the physical comedy parts. It is definitely not a masterpiece, but if you need an evening of relaxation in front of the TV, then this film is for you.

Rating: 7/10, or B1

I guess that "Bustin' Loose" is most famous because it was during the production of this movie that Richard Pryor had his near-death experience with freebasing. But there's more to the movie than that. Pryor plays an ex-con who gets a second chance by getting assigned to drive a bus load of special needs children from Philadelphia to Washington state.

Much of the humor derives from Richard Pryor's and Cicely Tyson's personalities bouncing off of each other: he's the irresponsible goof-off, she's the stern teacher. There's also a look at the children's stories: there's a blind boy, a pyromaniac, and a former child prostitute from Vietnam. And then of course, there's the scene with the Ku Klux Klan; I bet that Richard Pryor had wanted to do something like that for years!

So, it's a pretty silly movie, but still very enjoyable. It's too bad that Richard Pryor is no longer with us.

Bustin' Loose (1981) is a movie I recently watched on Tubi. The storyline follows a man whose parole officer makes him help the parole officer's girlfriend move across country with 8 troubled children she supports. The man is told he just needs to drive the bus with the kids and girlfriend but once the trip starts he quickly discovers he has bit off more than he can chew. This movie is directed by Oz Scott (The Jeffersons) in his directorial debut and stars Richard Pryor (Harlem Nights), Cicely Tyson (The Help), George Coe (The Stepford Wives) and Peggy McCay (General Hospital). This movie has so many great memorable sequences and seeing Richard Pryor in his element creates so must nostalgia. The courtroom scene and blind kids on the bus sequences are legendary and absolutely hilarious. Pryor does a great job of feeling authentic and genuine in both his help and frustrations as the storyline evolves. The circumstances are a bit uneven with some being funny and fun and some being a bit cheesy. This isn't a crazy funny movie, or one of Pryor's best, but it is fun and heart warming. I would strongly recommend seeing this and score it a 6.5/10.

In reviewing African-Americans in film in chronological order for Black History Month, we're now at 1981 with Bustin' Loose. In this one, Richard Pryor is a small-time crook who gets a chance at redemption when his parole officer asks him to drive a bus of troubled children and his fiancée (Cicely Tyson) across country from Philadelphia to Seattle on the way to Tyson's family farm. That obviously doesn't sound like a hilarious comedy and there are indeed some scenes Pryor has with some of the kids that expresses more of his dramatic abilities, as heartfelt as some of those scenes may be. There's still some of his unique comic talents here that may make you glad you gave this one a shot like his attempted con of several TV sets in a bogus delivery truck or his fooling the Ku Klux Klan into pushing the bus out of a mud-hole because they think all the kids in it are blind! Then there's his cowboy disguise with fake accent near the end that made me laugh pretty hard. Ms. Tyson, normally a dramatic actress, has a few humorous moments of her own that puts her in a new light. Threatens to lose steam after a while but all in all, Bustin' Loose is nothing Mr. Pryor had to be ashamed about especially since he thought up the story and was co-producer. P.S. It was here that he set himself on fire when he freebased on cocaine.