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

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:

The Children's Song

Very Odd Pryor Comedy Is Not Funny Enough

One way to describe "Bustin' Loose" is as a blaxploitation version of "The Bad News Bears (1976)," but it is not nearly as good as the 1976 movie. Richard Pryor plays a hoodlum who is forced to drive a school bus (from Philadelphia to Washington) filled of ornery kids. It is a family drama at heart, even though it is mean-spirited, with gratuitous use of profanities. I have never been a big fan of Pryor (who co-wrote and produced the film), so maybe I'm not the right person to judge his work. All I can say is that Pryor is okay in a tailor-made role, but I honestly think this film missed its mark by far. Some scenes are really cute and funny (the KKK sequence is hilarious), but I think the grim nature of the subject matter puts a dark cloud over the entire film. And what you can say of a movie that missuses the great Cicely Tyson? Maybe I was not in the mood, but I found the movie (despite some genuinely funny moments), hard to take.