Bustin' Loose

Bustin' Loose (1981)

*** (out of 4)

Richard Pryor plays a con man who is blackmailed by his probation officer into taking eight troubled kids on a bus trip from Philadelphia to Seattle. Having been made in a politically incorrect time and featuring Pryor with troubled kids means you're going to have a great load of laughs but the film also has a heart of gold but more on this in a bit. As for pure laughs this is probably the best film I've seen from Pryor, although Moving is still my favorite movie of his due to it just being a personal favorite. This movie here features non-stop laughs from start to finish and it really gives Pryor a chance to act and he proves to be very reliable here. Pryor does a great job with the comedy and really delivers the jokes but what's most refreshing is seeing how well he does with the more dramatic moments. The film has a heart of gold but I think there are a few too many tender scenes meant to make the viewer get tears in their eyes. A lot of these dramatic scenes are pretty heartfelt but I think there are just too many of them. Pryor handles all of this very well though. Cicely Tyson plays the woman trying to save the kids and she's does a good job, although the romantic subplot with Pryor is pretty weak. There are numerous great scenes in the film including a great sequence where Pryor runs into the KKK but the highlight of the movie is certainly the scene where Pryor is driving the bus and three of the kids, acting like thugs, come up and start messing with him.

This is a really nice film. I bought it on DVD and saw it last night. I had seen it various times through the years. Last night was the first time I had seen it in along time. Without Richard Pryor it could have been an after school special. I have always liked Richard Pryor in his films, he always played a normal human being, he never got into the supercop comedies like Eddie Murphy did. Pryor showed in this film that he could be tender as well as funny. It is a little gem of movie, very lite, but very funny and heartwarming.

Grade: B

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.

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.

Bustin' Loose is nice movie starring Richard Pryor that is a cross country comedy that is warm hearted without coming across corny and still be funny on top of that. Richard Pryor is a thief on parole and as a condition of his parole, his parole officer has him drive a bus full of special ed kids from Phiily to rural Washington to live on teacher's aunt and uncle's farm after funding was cut and the kids need a place to go. Throughout the course of the trip, bus driver Joe Braxton grows to dig the kids and bonds with them. The characters in this movie are no angels and are portrayed in a more realistic manner than some fluff that Disney or The Hallmark Channel would crap out. They are presented as real people with real problems, who aspire to travel to Washington for a better life. There still is a lot of really funny stuff in this movie and Richard Pryor is one of the best comic actors of all time, but he also delivers on the more emotional scenes as well, really making Joe Braxton a likeable guy.