Bustin' Loose (1981)

Director:

Oz Scott

Writers:

Lonne Elder III (adaptation)
Richard Pryor (story)

Release Date:

22 May 1981 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

He's mad, he's bad, and he's Bustin' Loose!

Plot:

Joe Braxton is an ex-con who has been given a second chance to freedom after violating his probation...

Plot Keywords:

School | Bus | Farm | Teacher | Ex Convict

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Richard Pryor	...	Joe Braxton
Cicely Tyson	...	Vivian Perry
Ángel Ramírez	...	Julio
Jimmy Hughes	...	Harold
Edwin DeLeon	...	Ernesto
Edwin Kinter	...	Anthony
Tami Luchow	...	Linda
Janet Wong	...	Annie
Alphonso Alexander	...	Martin
Kia Cooper	...	Samantha
Robert Christian	...	Donald
George Coe	...	Doctor Wilson T. Renfrew
Bill Quinn	...	Judge Antonio Runzuli
Roy Jenson	...	Klan Leader
Fred Carney	...	Alfred Schuyler

Also Known As:

Family Dreams (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | UK:15 | Australia:M | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Ellensburg, Washington, USA

Company:

Richard Pryor Productions

Trivia:

During production of this film, Richard Pryor suffered serious injury when he accidentally set himself on fire in a drug-related mishap.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Joe Braxton is hanging on the side of the bus as it begins to go down the hill, you can clearly see the cable of his safety harness attached to the rail of the bus.

Quotes:

Joe Braxton: [yelling at the kids after they learned of the possible farm loss and are whining amongst themselves] Shut up!
Ernesto: [to Joe] Go take a hike!
Joe Braxton: [smacks him across the face hard enough to knock him down] Shut up!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Sleaze (1982)

Soundtrack:

Lovin' You (Is Such An Easy Thang To Do)

Bustin' Loose shows some warmth as well as laughs from Pryor

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.