Protraph Lack of good storyline.

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

KnotStronger This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

tavm 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.

Syl Let's face it, Cicely Tyson and Richard Pryor play an unlikely pair. Cicely plays a good-hearted social worker who is determined to transport a school bus-load of abandoned orphans across the country to a farm with animals. She gets Richard Pryor's character who plays an ex-con who redeems himself in this film. Of course, Tyson and Pryor are quite simply marvelous in roles that would have otherwise failed. I know if I wanted somebody that would be Cicely who plays Vivian Perry whose heart and mind are always in the right place. While Pryor's character feels like a failure, she and the kids inspire him as well he inspires them. It's not a wholesome after-school special but it's touching at moments to see the outcasts look and treat upon each other as friends and family because they could have treated this film like silly film but it's a serious film about serious problems and they do it admirably.

soranno Richard Pryor portrays con men so often yet he always manages to make it funny. The plot this time around involves con man Pryor being on the run and taking the time to escort a group of kids and their keeper (Cicely Tyson) cross country by means of a bus that he has to drive. The comic hilarity that can be exepcted from Pryor is evident here.

flicklover This is a really nice film. I bought it on DVD and saw it last night. I had seen it various times through the years. Last night was the first time I had seen it in along time. Without Richard Pryor it could have been an after school special. I have always liked Richard Pryor in his films, he always played a normal human being, he never got into the supercop comedies like Eddie Murphy did. Pryor showed in this film that he could be tender as well as funny. It is a little gem of movie, very lite, but very funny and heartwarming.Grade: B