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Title: Bustin' Loose (1981)
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| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Richard Pryor | ... | Joe Braxton | |
| Cicely Tyson | ... | Vivian Perry | |
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Angel Ramirez Jr. | ... | Julio (as Ángel Ramírez) |
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Jimmy Hughes | ... | Harold |
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Edwin DeLeon | ... | Ernesto |
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Edwin Kinter | ... | Anthony |
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Tami Luchow | ... | Linda |
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Janet Wong | ... | Annie |
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Alphonso Alexander | ... | Martin |
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Kia Cooper | ... | Samantha |
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Robert Christian | ... | Donald |
| George Coe | ... | Doctor Wilson T. Renfrew | |
| Bill Quinn | ... | Judge Antonio Runzuli | |
| Roy Jenson | ... | Klan Leader | |
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Fred Carney | ... | Alfred Schuyler |
Joe Braxton is an ex-con who has been given a second chance to freedom after violating his probation. He has been hired by a school teacher named Vivian Perry to repair and drive an old school bus and drive a group of Special kids to Ms. Perry's Washington Farm from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to give them a new home after The Clarmont Center for Children is shut down by the city. The kids have severe mental problems and Joe is not looking forward to the trip at all, but Joe later bonds with Vivian and the children, offering his support and love and changes his outlook on life. But Donald, the social worker and Vivian's lover who gave Joe his break is hot on their tail and wants Joe back in prison. Joe and Vivian must now prevent Donald from sending the children back to Philadelphia, where they'll have no future. Written by Geoffrey A. Middleton <gamidd01@morehead-st.edu>
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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.