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.
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.