Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Bustin' Loose Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov December 6, 2020

Oz Scott's "Bustin' Loose" (1981) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include exclusive new audio commentary by critic Sergio Mims and vintage promotional materials for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Take the money and run, woman.

After a botched job in Philadelphia small-time crook Joe Braxton (Richard Pryor) is asked by his probation officer (Robert Christian) to do him a ‘favor’ -- drive his girlfriend Vivian (Cicely Tyson) and a small group of orphans to her farm in Washington state where she intends to start a new chapter in her life. If Braxton refuses, the probation officer will make sure that he quickly ends up in jail. Shortly after, Braxton, Vivian and the orphans get on an old school bus and head West.

During the trip, Braxton and the orphans slowly warm up to each other, and Vivian discovers that he is a much kinder man than the crook her boyfriend had described to her. A few small accidents then bring them even closer and make them realize that they have began acting like an unusually big family. When the group reaches Washington state, Vivian is presented with a massive property tax bill and informed that she cannot begin operating the farm before meeting her financial obligations. Vivian has to do it quickly, too, or she would lose the farm to a local bank. With time running out, Braxton begins improvising to help Vivian find the money for the farm, but his tricks once again send him on a collision course with the law.

Directed by Oz Scott, Bustin’ Loose relies almost entirely on Pryor’s charisma to make the journey of its characters attractive. This is a completely predictable yet smart strategy because Pryor was one of those truly special actors that could single-handedly transform an entire film. Comedies were of course his specialty.

But Bustin’ Loose was apparently not scripted to be a straightforward comedy. Indeed, Lonne Elder III adapted an original story by Pryor and Roger L. Simon then delivered a screenplay that actually expects Bustin’ Loose to impress primarily as a sweet family melodrama, so even though there is a good dose of humor in it its identity isn’t shaped up by it. Understandably, Pryor has to work with multiple personalities as the humor and melodrama begin to overlap, and the more these personalities change, the clearer it becomes that he would have been far more effective in a straightforward comedy.

The best moments in Bustin’ Loose come when Pryor uses colorful language and then gets stuck in awkward situations with various shady and kooky characters. By the way, this is precisely the type of wild entertainment the original poster for the film promises, but there just isn’t enough of it. The focus of attention is actually on the bonding between his character and the orphans, and the eventual romance with the probation officer’s girlfriend.

It is difficult to argue that Bustin’ Loose disappoints because its story oozes warmth that is impossible to reject. But it isn’t difficult to tell that with a looser Pryor and a few more loons around him, the end result would have been vastly superior. The con job in Philadelphia has the right vibe and so do the episodes with the KKK gang and the scammers in the saloon, but it feels like the film struggles to recognize that it is so. This is unfortunate because it would not have been difficult to make the necessary adjustments and have Pryor look like he is on fire.

There is a surprising amount of good music. Mark Davis’ score blends some top-notch jazz and funk harmonies that add a lot of energy in all the right places. A couple of great Roberta Flack songs can be heard as well.

Bustin' Loose Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an its origin al aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Bustin' Loose arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The release is sourced from a very old master that was supplied by Universal Studios. Fortunately, it does not have any traces of problematic digital adjustments, which is often the most serious issue on old masters that emerge from the major's vaults. So, density levels range from decent to good, while clarity is mostly pleasing. Detail varies and in darker areas there is noticeably crushing, but there is nothing particularly disappointing. In areas where detail isn't optimal, it is just easy to tell that the current master is old. Grain is loose and quite uneven, but this is another inherited limitation. For what it's worth, I'd much rather have this type of appearance on an older master than the smeary and harsh surface of manipulated masters like this one. Colors look natural, but there is certainly room for improvement, particularly in terms of saturation and stability. Image stability is good, but a few light wobbles can be spotted. Dirt spots, minor stains, and a few white specks can be seen, but there are no distracting age-related anomalies. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Bustin' Loose Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

The current master might be old, but the lossless track is very strong. The audio is sharp, stable, and with a proper dynamic range. I did not detect any age-related anomalies to report in our review. In fact, I was quite surprised to hear how healthy the upper register was even in areas where there is quite a bit of dynamic movement.

Bustin' Loose Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for Bustin' Loose. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 480/60i).

• Radio Spots - a couple of vintage radio spots for Bustin' Loose. In English, not subtitled. (1 min, 1080p).

• Audio Commentary - in this new audio commentary, critic Sergio Mims shares a lot of interesting information about the personal life and career of Richard Pryor, the type of performer he was and the unique personalities he conveyed before the camera, the very difficult production history of Bustin' Loose, etc. I encourage you to listen to this commentary in its entirety because Bustin' Loose occupies a rather small part of it, and the rest is a pretty great and honest summation of Pryor's legacy.

Bustin' Loose Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The original screenplay for Bustin' Loose should have demanded a looser Richard Pryor facing a bigger number of loony characters, and perhaps then the wild fun that the vintage poster for the film promises would have materialized. As it is Bustin' Loose delivers sweet family melodrama with only a couple of genuinely funny moments of the kind that Pryor's best work is known for, which is why it feels like a pretty underwhelming project. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from an old but decent organic master that was supplied by Universal Pictures. It features an excellent exclusive new audio commentary by critic Sergio Mims, which I would wholeheartedly recommend to any Pryor fan.