Cicely Tyson, Richard Pryor

Of all the films in which Richard Pryor was the main star in the 1970s and 1980s, this was one of the only ones to come close to capturing his impishly mercurial stage presence as a standup comedian--...( read more  read more... )and also to aspire to coherency, perhaps because it was cowritten by Pryor and award-winning playwright Lonne Elder III. Pryor plays an ex-convict who gets strong-armed into helping a schoolteacher (Cicely Tyson) drive a busload of physically and emotionally handicapped children across the country. Though there is the kind of irascible adult-cute kid interplay you would expect, Pryor makes it work, even as he finds the heart in a ne'er-do-well who discovers a talent for caring for others. Watch for the scene in which Pryor finds himself face to face with a hooded group of Klansmen and comically finesses the situation. --Marshall Fine

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64% liked it

3,819 ratings

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Directed by: Cicely Tyson, Oz Scott, Richard Pryor

Release Date: May 22, 1981

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DVD Release Date: October 19, 1999

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Stats: 97 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (97)


  • October 23, 2009
    I was laughing my ass off.This movie is great
  • October 15, 2009
    Another great family movie from the 80's. Richard Pryor is an excellent actor, takes small roles and makes them big.
  • April 27, 2009
    wow this film is great by richard pryor are greatest performed with an 8 kid & the teacher for the road trip.
  • March 20, 2009
    This is a timeless comedy. To the story to the soundtrack (Roberta Flack). I love the at the end of the movie when my jam comes on (dah dah dah dah, dah dah, dah dah,da da, dah dah dah dah dah dah)
  • October 17, 2008
    No thankyou - Not interested
  • August 6, 2008
    hilarious...comedy.....
  • July 28, 2008
    "Joe" (the late Richard Pryor) is a foulmouth con man/thief who has been in trouble with the law in the past for most of his life. When he gets arrested again, he is brought in front of a judge (Bill Quinn) and is assigned community service.

    He is assigned as a bus driver for...( read more) special needs students and their teacher (Cicely Tyson), who is taking the students, who the community has shunned, from Philadelphia to a farm in Washington state.

    At first, "Joe" is not happy with his situation and does not like what he has been forced into. However, he slowly learns that there is more to life then himself.

    The first thing you'd expect from a Richard Pryor movie is jokes laced with four-letter words. There is that, but they basically stop about half-way through the movie. Pryor keeps the laughs going, but they aren't side-splitting jokes. Many of the jokes, in fact, only produce some good chuckles.

    There are some good performances in the cast. And, as "Joe" begins to warm up to the kids, you get to see some fair chemistry between them and Pryor. In fact, Pryor's performance is probably the best. "Joe" starts off as a street-wise punk, but slowly becomes a loving man who now knows there are people in more need than he. Pryor shows off the transformation really well. Tyson does a good job herself, and has pretty good chemistry with Pryor and especially the children. To me, it looks as if Pryor and Tyson took time to get to know their young co-stars and began to care for them to the point that they brought that to the screen.

    If you ask me, the music is not great. The movie was released in the early 1980's, but sounds like pop from a decade earlier. The music, with the theme song sung by Roberta Flack, is not memorable. The theme song, which you hear a few times during the film, is not even catchy. If the theme song was released today, I can pretty much guarantee it wouldn't chart on Billboard.

    The wardrobes are typical for the time the movie was released, and nothing really stands out. It is a trip to see the clothing of when I was 10 though.

    I personally wouldn't put it in my Top 10 "Must See" movies, but I would probably put it somewhere on the low side of my Top 5 choices for rent if my first movie wasn't available.
  • July 22, 2008
    not bad but not Pryor's best
  • March 21, 2008
    I did not really like this movie.
  • March 11, 2008
    i still lay in the floor with my tinker bell blanket t watch this one.

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Bustin' Loose Trivia


  • Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder did not play in this movie together?  Answer »
  • In the 1981 movie Bustin Loose, Richard Pryor drives a group of kids from what major city to a farm outside of what major city?  Answer »

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