Bustin' Loose
Bustin' Loose
R | 22 May 1981 (USA)
Bustin' Loose Trailers

After ex-con Joe Braxton violates his probation, he is given a second chance. All he has to do is drive a group of special kids across the country.

Reviews
Spoonixel Amateur movie with Big budget
Voxitype Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...
Cissy Évelyne It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.
capncruller This movie may appear to be a family movie, but yet Richard Pryor's Braxton character is clearly not a family man. He swears and yells at children, slaps them, teaches them strip poker and is constantly smoking stogies.I found myself really enjoying this movie though. There are quite a few laugh out loud moments. I especially liked when the Miss Perry character told Braxton to be careful with his cigar because he might set himself on fire!The movie even features comedian Paul Mooney in a small cameo at the beginning.
tavm 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.
Syl 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.
Brian-272 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.