Joe Braxton [Richard Pryor] is a convict who violates his parole after a failed attempt to lift a pile of televisions from a Philadelphia store. His parole officer, Robert Christian, assigns him a job that brings him into contact with schoolteacher Vivian Perry Cicely Tyson, whose city closed her school due to budget cuts.
Vivian Perry decides to move eight special needs students to her aunt Beedee Gloria Jewel Waggener's farm in rural Washington, hoping to give the kids a stable, nurturing environment. Donald, the parole officer, is against the plan at first and tries to derail it by insisting the old bus won’t work, but that ploy blows up in his face and he ultimately relents, deciding that Joe should drive the bus to Washington. As the trio—Joe, Vivian, and the eight children—set off, the journey becomes a window into the kids’ lives and struggles, with each mile revealing more about their pasts and the wounds they carry.
Joe thinks his job is simply to fix and drive the bus, but his true gift emerges in how he connects with the children. He disciplines and guides Annie [Janet Wong] when she makes an inappropriate advance, and he steps in to save Anthony when danger looms, all while planning a first-time fishing trip for the kids. The trip is rough: rain rattles the windshield, and a dirt road turns into a muddy trap that nearly traps them forever.
In the mud, Joe leaves to seek help and unexpectedly walks back with a startling sight—he’s walking in lockstep with a group of Klansmen, led by the Klan Leader [Roy Jenson]. He manages to turn the situation to the kids’ advantage by convincing them to help pull the bus out, even claiming the children are blind to win their cooperation. The plan works enough to get the bus moving toward a hospital in Washington, and the group breathes a brief sigh of relief.
Later, in Montana, Donald catches up with them at a motel after discovering Vivian has misrepresented the kids’ records. A tense midnight chase follows as they resist being forced back to Philadelphia, and the group presses on toward the farm, determined to build anew.
Upon arriving at the farm, Vivian meets with a banker to secure a $15,000 loan to save the farm. One of the kids overhears and alerts the others, launching a clash of hopes and fears. Joe confronts the kids about their worries, then heads into town in disguise—dressed as a Texarkana cowboy—to learn about a “trapezoid scheme.” He sits with the group, uses the con to obtain the money, and returns with Vivian, though the pair are pursued by two of the group.
The trouble doesn’t end there: back at the farm, they discover the bank president (who is also the mayor) has been swayed by the kids’ stories of the duo’s deeds, convincing him to grant the loan and integrate the children into the community. The celebration is short-lived, however, as Donald arrives with a police officer, demanding they return to Philadelphia, and he faces a confrontation with the mayor that he ultimately loses.
In the end, it seems Joe is headed back to Philadelphia with Donald, but at the last moment Donald reaches the end of the driveway and chooses to let Joe stay. The film closes on a note of renewed faith, second chances, and the quiet, stubborn possibility of a better life for everyone involved.
