Bustin' Loose

This is the old-fashioned, almost Disney-like story of jailbird mechanic Joe Braxton (Richard Pryor), who reluctantly comes to the aid of Vivian Perry (Cicely Tyson), fixes her old bus, and drives Vivian and her eight children to Seattle, where they plan to settle on a farm. The wayward bus makes several unexpected detours, breaks down regularly, etc. Pryor--whose customary profanity cuts into the story's essentially sentimental nature--is able to energize the material, but in the end BUSTIN' LOOSE remains a minor effort from a major talent.