Bustin' Loose

Let's face it, Cicely Tyson and Richard Pryor play an unlikely pair. Cicely plays a good-hearted social worker who is determined to transport a school bus-load of abandoned orphans across the country to a farm with animals. She gets Richard Pryor's character who plays an ex-con who redeems himself in this film. Of course, Tyson and Pryor are quite simply marvelous in roles that would have otherwise failed. I know if I wanted somebody that would be Cicely who plays Vivian Perry whose heart and mind are always in the right place. While Pryor's character feels like a failure, she and the kids inspire him as well he inspires them. It's not a wholesome after-school special but it's touching at moments to see the outcasts look and treat upon each other as friends and family because they could have treated this film like silly film but it's a serious film about serious problems and they do it admirably.

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.

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.

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