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Movies like Bustin' Loose

Key Features:
Road trip, Ex-con, Second chance, Character redemption, Underdog story, Feel-good, Friendship, Overcoming adversity, Comedy
Tone:
humorous, earnest
Target Audience:
Families, Viewers who enjoy feel-good movies, Those interested in stories of redemption, Audiences seeking lighthearted entertainment
Emotional Arc:
Skepticism → Affection

Bustin' Loose

1981-05-22
Bustin' Loose Poster - Find Similar Movies

After ex-con Joe Braxton violates his probation, he is given a second chance. All he has to do is drive a group of special kids across the country.

Genres
Comedy, Drama
Cast
Richard Pryor, Cicely Tyson, Ángel Ramírez, Jimmy Hughes, Edwin DeLeon, Edwin Kinter, Tami Luchow, Janet Wong, Alphonso Alexander, Kia Cooper
Crew
Oz Scott, Richard Pryor, Roger L. Simon, Michael Schultz
Rating
6.1(53 votes)
Bustin' LooseBustin' Loose
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Crazy on the Outside

A recently paroled ex-con who has trouble adjusting to the wacky normalcy of life outside of prison. He has spent the last three years behind bars after getting caught committing a crime and taking the rap for his much more dangerous pal.



Rebound
Rebound(2005)
5.594

An acclaimed college hoops coach is demoted to a junior varsity team after a public meltdown.



Dirt
Dirt(2018)
6

In search of a lifeline for his struggling off road racing team, a man takes on a young car thief looking for a second chance, but as their worlds collide, they must struggle to forge a successful alliance.



The Chaperone
5.5

An ex-con on the run from his criminal past, hides out from those he ratted on by chaperoning a field trip to New Orleans.



Straight A's
5.2

Pressured by his late mother's ghost to return home to the family he abandoned, a former addict grabs a bag of pills and a sack of marijuana and hits the road to Shreveport.



Dutch
Dutch(1991)
6.4

To get to know his girlfriend's son, a man volunteers to pick him up from a prep school... only to learn that her son's not the nicest kid.



Vacation
Vacation(2015)
6.305

Hoping to bring his family closer together and to recreate his childhood vacation for his own kids, a grown up Rusty Griswold takes his wife and their two sons on a cross-country road trip to the coolest theme park in America, Walley World. Needless to say, things don't go quite as planned.



Father Hood
5.78

Deadbeat dad kidnaps his kids from the bus to an abusive foster home and they go on a run. The cops are after them, they bicker constantly and his idea of a way out is grim, yet this dangerous ride might just turn them into a family.



The Wizard
6.045

A boy and his brother run away from home and hitch cross-country, with help from a girl they meet, to compete in the ultimate video-game championship.



Gridiron Gang
7

Under the leadership of their counselor, teenagers at a juvenile detention center gain self-esteem by playing football together. Based on a true story.



Champions
Champions(2023)
6.72

A stubborn and hotheaded minor league basketball coach is forced to train a Special Olympics team when he is sentenced to community service.



The Underdoggs
7

Jaycen 'Two Js' Jennings is a washed-up former pro football star who has hit rock bottom. When sentenced to community service coaching the Underdoggs, an unruly pee-wee football team in his hometown, he sees it mostly as an opportunity to rebuild his public image. But in the process, he may just turn his life around and rediscover his love of the game.



Saint John of Las Vegas

An ex-gambler is lured back into the game by a veteran insurance-fraud investigator.



Ana
Ana(2020)
6.313

Ana meets Rafa in a chance encounter and they embark on a road trip to try and save him from bankruptcy, or worse.



Every Which Way but Loose

Philo Beddoe is your regular, easygoing, truck-driving guy. He's also the best bar-room brawler west of the Rockies. And he lives with a 165-pound orangutan named Clyde. Like other guys, Philo finally falls in love - with a flighty singer who leads him on a screwball chase across the American Southwest. Nothing's in the way except a motorcycle gang, some cops, and legendary brawler Tank Murdock.



Black Dog
Black Dog(1998)
6.397

An ex-con takes a job driving a truck cross country. What he doesn't know is that the truck is filled with illegal weapons and now he must fight to survive and save his family.



Chasers
Chasers(1994)
5.4

Military men Rock Reilly and Eddie Devane are tasked with taking a prisoner, blonde bombshell Toni Johnson, on what becomes an unforgettable road trip. Toni, an enlistee who's in trouble for deserting her unit, soon proves that she's craftier than most inmates.



Outside In
6.162

An ex-con struggling to readjust to life in his small town forms an intense bond with his former high-school teacher.



Tommy Boy
Tommy Boy(1995)
6.8

To save the family business, two ne’er-do-well traveling salesmen hit the road with disastrously funny consequences.



Brothers
Brothers(2024)
5.95

A reformed criminal's attempt at going straight is derailed when he reunites with his sanity-testing twin brother on a road trip for the score of a lifetime. Dodging bullets, the law, and an overbearing mother along the way, they must heal their severed family bond before they end up killing each other.



John Henry
5.259

Ex-gang member John Henry is a quiet man with a violent past. When two immigrant kids on the run from his former South Los Angeles gang leader stumble into his life, John is forced to reconcile with his past in order to try and give them a future.



Moving Violations
5.3

A group of careless and unlucky drivers are sentenced to attend traffic school to keep their records clean.



The Wendell Baker Story

Luke Wilson plays a good-hearted ex-con who gets a job in a retirement hotel. Three elderly residents help him win back his girlfriend as he lends them a hand in fighting hotel corruption.



Juanita
Juanita(2019)
5.4

Fed up with her deadbeat grown kids and marginal urban existence, Juanita takes a Greyhound bus to Paper Moon, Montana - where she reinvents herself and finds her mojo.



Drive-Away Dolls
5.459

Jamie, an uninhibited free spirit bemoaning yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her demure friend Marian desperately needs to loosen up. In search of a fresh start, the two embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals along the way.



First Sunday
5.667

Durell and LeeJohn are best friends and bumbling petty criminals. When told they have one week to pay a $17,000 debt or Durell will lose his son, they come up with a desperate scheme to rob their neighborhood church. Instead, they end up spending the night in the presence of the Lord and are forced to deal with much more than they bargained for.



Barbecue
Barbecue(2014)
5.822

On his 50th birthday, a man who's been watching his weight, health and temper all his life suffers a heart attack. He's been doing everything he was told he should do and it still didn't help. He decides to turn the page and let loose.



Eldorado
Eldorado(2008)
6.582

Yvan finds a burglar in his house. After some consideration, Yvan decides not to call the police and to drop the lad near the nearby city but he ends up giving him a lift home to his parents. Together, they travel through Belgium and meet some extraordinary people and find themselves in ditto situations.



Bandits
Bandits(2001)
6.3

After escaping from prison, Joe and Terry go on a crime spree, robbing banks through Oregon and California in order to finance their scheme for a new life south of the border. Unfortunately, things get more complicated when they meet Kate, who runs into them with her car. She joins the bandits on their cross-country spree, and eventually she steals something, too: their hearts.



The Winning Season
6.354

A comedy centered on a has-been coach who is given a shot at redemption when he's asked to run his local high school's girls basketball team



Palmer
Palmer(2021)
8.1

After 12 years in prison, former high school football star Eddie Palmer returns home to put his life back together—and forms an unlikely bond with Sam, an outcast boy from a troubled home. But Eddie's past threatens to ruin his new life and family.



Almost an Angel
5.8

Terry Dean is an electronics wizard and thief. After he is released from jail, he is hit by a car while saving a little girl's life. While in the hospital, he dreams that God visits him and tells him he's an Angel, and must start doing good things to make up for his past life. Not believing it at first, he soon becomes convinced he must be an Angel. Not having any Angel powers yet, he must use his own experiences and talents to make good things happen.



Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo

The dance crew from "Breakin'" bands together to save a community center from a greedy developer bent on building a shopping center in its place.



Pegasus 2
Pegasus 2(2024)
7.1

The former champion driver Zhang Chi became a driving school instructor in troubled times, living a life of relying on his reputation to make ends meet. Unexpectedly, pie in the sky falls, and the director of Laotoule Automobile Factor, who is on the verge of suspending production, offers to sponsor Zhang Chi to form a team to compete in the last Bayinbrook Rally.



Johnson Family Vacation

Nate Johnson, a Los Angeles man estranged from his wife and three children, decides to reconnect with his family by taking them with him on a road trip to Missouri for a big family reunion.



Tough Guys
6

Harry Doyle and Archie Lang are two old-time train robbers, who held up a train in 1956 and have been incarcerated for thirty years. After serving their time, they are released from jail and have to adjust to a new life of freedom. and soon realize that they still have the pizzazz when, picking up their prison checks at a bank, they foil a robbery attempt.



Small Crimes
5.383

A disgraced former cop, fresh off a six-year prison sentence for attempted murder, returns home looking for redemption but winds up trapped in the mess he left behind.



A Perfect World
7.5

A kidnapped boy strikes up a friendship with his captor: an escaped convict on the run from the law, headed by an honorable U.S. Marshal.



Diggstown
Diggstown(1992)
6.289

Gabriel Caine has just been released from prison when he sets up a bet with a business man who owns most of Diggstown, a boxing-mad town. The bet is that Gabe can find a boxer that will knock out 10 Diggstown men, in a boxing ring, within 24 hours. Roy 'Honey' Palmer is that man that, at 48, many say he is too old.



Felicità
Felicità(2020)
6.9

Tommy, 11 years old, is on the road again with her eccentric parents. This time, her freshly out-of-jail father has promised her: she won't miss the first school-day of the term! That was before her dad stole a sports car, her mother disappeared and an astronaut popped by.



Joe Dirt
Joe Dirt(2001)
5.622

Joe Dirt is a janitor with a mullet hairdo, acid-washed jeans and a dream to find the parents that he lost at the Grand Canyon when he was a belligerent, trailer park-raised eight-year-old. Now, blasting Van Halen in his jacked-up economy car, the irrepressibly optimistic Joe hits the road alone in search of his folks.



Scarecrow
Scarecrow(1973)
7.034

Two drifters bum around, visit earthy women and discuss opening a car wash in Pittsburgh.



Bronco Billy
6.302

An idealistic, modern-day cowboy struggles to keep his Wild West show afloat in the face of hard luck and waning interest.



Hollywood or Bust
6.1

The last movie with Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin together, is a satire of the life in Hollywood. Steve Wiley is a deceiver who cheats Malcolm Smith when he wins a car, claiming that he won it too. Trying to steal the car, Steve tells Malcolm that he lives in Hollywood, next to Anita Ekberg's. When Malcom hears that, they both set out for Hollywood and the adventure begins...



Madea Goes to Jail
6.5

After a high-speed car chase, Madea winds up behind bars because her quick temper gets the best of her. Meanwhile, Assistant District Attorney Josh Hardaway lands a case that's too personal to handle: that of a young prostitute and former drug addict named Candace, also a childhood friend. When Candace winds up in jail, Madea takes the young woman under her protective wing.



Smokey and the Bandit II

The Bandit goes on another cross-country run, transporting an elephant from Florida to Texas. And, once again, Sheriff Buford T. Justice is on his tail.



The Last Laugh
5.424

After moving to a retirement home, restless talent manager Al reconnects with long-ago client Buddy and coaxes him back out on the comedy circuit.



Next Friday
6.5

A streetwise man flees South Central Los Angeles, heading to the suburbs and his lottery-winner uncle and cousin, to avoid a neighborhood thug with a grudge who has just escaped from prison.



Sex Drive
Sex Drive(2008)
6.4

A high school senior drives cross-country with his best friends to hook up with a babe he met online.



Half Baked
6.322

Three lovable party buds try to bail their friend out of jail. But just when the guys have mastered a plan, everything comes dangerously close to going up in smoke.



Thelma & Louise
7.594

Taking a break from their dreary lives, close friends Thelma and Louise embark on a short weekend trip that ends in unforeseen incriminating circumstances. As fugitives, both women rediscover the strength of their bond and their newfound resilience.



Damage
Damage(2009)
6.6

An ex-con battles it out in the cage to pay for the operation that would save the daughter of his victim. Along the way he finds fatherly love, and friendship, in the most unlikely of places.



Kingpin
Kingpin(1996)
6.5

After bowler Roy Munson swindles the wrong crowd and is left with a hook for a hand, he settles into impoverished obscurity. That is, until he uncovers the next big thing: an Amish kid named Ishmael. So, the corrupt and the hopelessly naive hit the circuit intent on settling an old score with Big Ern.



Feel the Beat
7.566

After failing to make it on Broadway, April returns to her hometown and reluctantly begins training a misfit group of young dancers for a competition.



Furlough
Furlough(2018)
5.7

In between caring for her mother, a young woman works part time at a prison. The rookie guard gets a chance to prove her mettle when she's tasked with accompanying a hell-raising inmate on an emergency furlough to visit her dying mother. But things soon spiral out of control, sending the pair on a hilarious, surprising, and ultimately touching road trip.



Losin' It
Losin' It(1983)
4.947

In 1965, four Los Angeles school friends -- Woody, Dave, Spider and Wendell -- go on a series of misadventures when they head to Tijuana, Mexico, for a night of cruisin', causing trouble, and to lose their virginity.



Speed Zone
4.5

An illegal race that takes place over the United States and nothing will stop this bunch of racers except for the occasional cop or a damsel in distress. Jackie Chan's car is not in this one, but many new cars make up for that. Who will win? Who will crash? Who will not even finish? Sit down and buckle up for the ride of your life.



The Peanut Butter Falcon

A down-on-his-luck crab fisherman embarks on a journey to get a young man with Down syndrome to a professional wrestling school in rural North Carolina and away from the retirement home where he’s lived for the past two and a half years.



Uncle Buck
6.796

Buck Russell, a lovable but slovenly bachelor, suddenly becomes the temporary caretaker of his nephew and nieces after a family emergency. His freewheeling attitude soon causes tension with his older niece Tia, loyal girlfriend Chanice and just about everyone else who crosses his path.



Wild Hogs
Wild Hogs(2007)
5.975

Restless and ready for an adventure, four suburban bikers leave the safety of their subdivision and head out on the open road. But complications ensue when they cross paths with an intimidating band of New Mexico bikers known as the Del Fuegos.



Larry Crowne
6

When he suddenly finds himself without his long-standing blue-collar job, Larry Crowne enrolls at his local college to start over. There, he becomes part of an eclectic community of students and develops a crush on his teacher.



Free Jimmy
5.4

Four stoners, five vegans, three mobsters, four hunters and a million reasons to free one junkie elephant.



The Replacements
6.69

Maverick old-guard coach Jimmy McGinty is hired in the wake of a players' strike to help the Washington Sentinels advance to the playoffs. But that impossible dream hinges on whether his replacements can hunker down and do the job. So, McGinty dusts off his secret dossier of ex-players who never got a chance (or screwed up the one they were given) and knits together a bad-dream team of guys who just may give the Sentinels their title shot.



Goodbye
Goodbye(2019)
6.993

Seville, Spain. Juan Santos, a convicted petty criminal, gets out of jail for a day to celebrate with Triana, his wife, the first communion of their daughter Estrella.



Jesus' Son
6.264

A young man turns from drug addiction and petty crime to a life redeemed by a discovery of compassion.



Max Dugan Returns
6.527

An English teacher and struggling single mother has her life disrupted when the father who abandoned her as a child comes back into her life.



Role Models
6.487

Two salesmen trash a company truck on an energy drink-fueled bender. Upon their arrest, the court gives them a choice: do hard time or spend 150 service hours with a mentorship program. After one day with the kids, however, jail doesn't look half bad.



Bomber
Bomber(1982)
6.405

Bomber is an unemployed boat captain. One day he meets Jerry, a manager of boxers who are struck by the force of his fists. That is when they see the chance to win big money.



Flashback
Flashback(1990)
6.333

A hippie radical, Huey Walker has been a fugitive for decades, accused of a crime that he may not have committed. Finally apprehended, Walker is escorted to trial by uptight 20-something FBI agent John Buckner. While the two seem to be polar opposites, it turns out that Buckner may have more in common with Walker than is initially apparent, a point that is driven home when the pair faces off against a sinister small-town sheriff.



Baby Driver
7.4

After being coerced into working for a crime boss, a young getaway driver finds himself taking part in a heist doomed to fail.



Desperation Road
6.692

Ex-con Russell Gaines is attempting to rebuild his life with the help of his father, Mitchell. However, the arrival of Maben sends his new life into chaos, leading the pair to go on the run - as their violent pasts catch up to them, the pair must learn to trust each other if they hope to live out the rest of their days.



Full Speed
6

A family together with their grandpa go on a vacation, when their new car won't stop and it nearly escapes crashing into a hundred cars.



Mississippi Grind

Gerry is a talented but down-on-his-luck gambler whose fortunes begin to change when he meets Curtis, a younger, highly charismatic poker player. The two strike up an immediate friendship and Gerry quickly persuades his new friend to accompany him on a road trip to a legendary high stakes poker game in New Orleans. As they make their way down the Mississippi River, Gerry and Curtis manage to find themselves in just about every bar, racetrack, casino, and pool hall they can find, experiencing both incredible highs and dispiriting lows, but ultimately forging a deep and genuine bond that will stay with them long after their adventure is over.



Fandango
Fandango(1985)
6.7

In 1971, five college buddies from the University of Texas embark on a final road trip odyssey across the Mexican border before facing up to uncertain futures, in Vietnam and otherwise.



$5 a Day
$5 a Day(2008)
5.589

After being released from jail, the son of a con man joins his father on the road.



The Philly Kid
5.461

A former NCAA champion wrestler is paroled after 10 years in prison. Now, to save a friend's life, in a series of cage fights he must agree to do the impossible - lose.



Crossroads
5.219

After eight years apart, three childhood friends - Lucy, Kit, and Mimi - rediscover their friendship on a cross-country trip. With barely a plan, practically no money but plenty of dreams, the girls catch a lift with Mimi's handsome friend Ben in his convertible. Along the way they not only gather experiences that will change their lives, but they also discover how important it is to hold onto their hearts' desires.



Perico Ripiao
7.2

Three convicted criminals escape from prison carrying only a güiro, a tambor and an accordion. During their journey, they meet with a bunch of interesting characters and are forced to use their musical skills to help them get home.



Ass Backwards
4.42

Two best friends embark on a cross country trip back to their hometown to attempt to win a pageant that eluded them as children.



Convoy
Convoy(1978)
6.3

Trucker Rubber Duck and his buddies Pig Pen, Widow Woman and Spider Mike use their CB radios to warn one another of the presence of cops. But conniving Sheriff Wallace is hip to the truckers' tactics, and begins tricking the drivers through his own CB broadcasts. Facing constant harassment from the law, Rubber Duck and his pals use their radios to coordinate a vast convoy and rule the road.



Priceless
Priceless(2016)
7

James, down on his luck and desperate for some quick cash, agrees to drive a small truck across country. He soon realizes that he's made a huge mistake and has inadvertently become involved in a dangerous human trafficking ring. The unlikely hero risks it all to shut down the trafficking ring and save the woman he is falling in love with.



National Lampoon's Senior Trip

While on detention, a group of misfits and slackers have to write a letter to the President explaining what is wrong with the education system. There is only one problem, the President loves it! Hence, the group must travel to Washington to meet the Main Man.



Cry Macho
Cry Macho(2021)
5.954

A one-time rodeo star and washed-up horse breeder takes a job from an ex-boss to bring the man's young son home from Mexico.



Super Troopers
6.6

Five bored, occasionally high and always ineffective Vermont state troopers must prove their worth to the governor or lose their jobs. After stumbling on a drug ring, they plan to make a bust, but a rival police force is out to steal the glory.



A World Without Thieves

A con-team couple head west after taking a city businessman for his BMW. But an encounter with a naive young carpenter traveling home with his life savings challenges their fate as thieves.



Trouble on Wheels
6.4

After the death of his wife and father, Kudret, who has always lived by the book, decides to go on a road trip to save a girl.



Nothing Can Stop Us Now

The training trip of 4 "special" boys, one narcoleptic, one internet-dependent, one suffering from Tourette's Syndrome and one obsessed with hygiene towards self-affirmation and acceptance of one's differences.



Duets
Duets(2000)
5.6

Duets is a road-trip comedy which revolves around the little known world of karaoke and the whimsical characters who inhabit it. All roads lead to Omaha, site of a national karaoke competition where this motley group of singers and stars come together for a blow-out sing-off.



Wild Bill
Wild Bill(2011)
6.8

Out on parole after 8 years inside Bill Hayward returns home to find his now 11 and 15 year old sons abandoned by their mother and fending for themselves. Unwilling to play Dad, an uncaring Bill is determined to move on.



Rio Bravo
Rio Bravo(1959)
7.8

A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a disabled man, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.



Guncrazy
Guncrazy(1992)
5.2

California teen Anita Minteer struggles in the face of an absentee mother, her mom's abusive boyfriend, Rooney, and a lack of respect from her classmates. This all changes when a pen-pal school project connects her with convict Howard. Anita secures Howard's parole and violently squares off against Rooney after he rapes her. Soon enough, the gun-crazy teen is on the run with Howard, with his parole officer in pursuit.



No Exit
No Exit(2022)
6.9

Stranded at a rest stop in the mountains during a blizzard, a recovering addict discovers a kidnapped child hidden in a car belonging to one of the people inside the building which sets her on a terrifying struggle to identify who among them is the kidnapper.



Win It All
5.674

A gambling addict faces a conflict when entrusted with keeping a bunch of money that isn't his.



Suck Me Shakespeer 3

A bank robber becomes a teacher after being released from prison and finds himself at the center of a number of crazy adventures.



Hick
Hick(2012)
5.708

A pistol-packing teen meets an unstable rebel and a cocaine-snorting drifter as she hitchhikes her way out West.



Adopt a Highway
6.7

Russ Millings has just been released from prison after serving 21 years for a 3rd strike conviction for possessing an ounce of marijuana. As he tries to adapt to a world he doesn’t recognize – including trying to learn how to use the internet – he finds an abandoned baby in a dumpster behind the fast food restaurant where he works as a dishwasher. Unsure of what to do, and caught between impulses of kindness and panic, Russ soon realizes this could be his chance at redemption.



Bolt
Bolt(2008)
6.5

Bolt is the star of the biggest show in Hollywood. The only problem is, he thinks it's real. After he's accidentally shipped to New York City and separated from Penny, his beloved co-star and owner, Bolt must harness all his "super powers" to find a way home.



Dumb and Dumber To
5.569

20 years since their first adventure, Lloyd and Harry go on a road trip to find Harry's newly discovered daughter, who was given up for adoption.



Monte Carlo or Bust!

Sequel to "Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines". This time an international car rally from England to Monte Carlo provides the comedic farce.

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