Reviews & Ratings for
The Toy More at IMDbPro »

Filter:

Best Chronological Prolific Authors Loved It Hated It Hide Spoilers:

Page 1 of 4:

[1] [2] [3] [4]

Index

31 reviews in total

---

13 out of 17 people found the following review useful:
Good on more than one level., 7 November 2000
Author: Jonas Cukierman (Count Orlok) from Chicago, Illinois USA

This film can be enjoyed by children due to it's obvious subject matter. But it also has a subtheme about racial and class divisions. Depending on the scene, the film's racial connotations range from depicting the use of blacks in subservient positions, to blatantly expressing that people can still sell themselves or be bought out of desperation.

---

10 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
A fun movie from the 80's that got taken too seriously, 11 June 2007

Author: Kristine (kristinedrama14@msn.com) from Chicago, Illinois

I know there was a lot of controversy around this film, due to the fact we have a rich white man buying a black man for his son, but I think that people just took this film way too seriously. Richard Pryor is one of the best comedians of all time, so I definitely became interested in seeing this film after I saw it on VH1's "I love the 80's" show, once again though, it seemed like they were giving the film a hard time. Well, I saw this at a store and figured for 5 dollars, what the heck? It's the rental price, if I liked the movie, I might as well own it. Well, I watched it this morning, I have to say that I thought that this was a very cute film that I'm sure if you have an open mind, you'll definitely enjoy it.

Jack is a journalist looking for a job, he's not getting anything though, at first he starts as a cleaning lady, but is fired by a snobby rich man. Then he's security at a toy store where the snobby rich man's son is shopping for anything he wants, he sees Jack and thinks he is funny, he wants him as the toy. When offered enough money to save his house, Jack agrees to it, but he's getting just a bit humiliated when he is constantly mocked, understandably. But when he gives the little boy a chance, they end up becoming great friends.

The Toy is just a fun movie that I'm sure you'll get a kick out of if you just give it a shot. It's a definite 80's classic that had great comedy in it, Richard was absolutely hilarious. He and Scott Schwartz were very adorable together and looked like they had so much fun together. I would recommend this film for a fun comedy, you're guaranteed a few laughs.

7/10

---

7 out of 9 people found the following review useful:
Chill Folks, 18 March 2009

Author: possedard from United States

Everyone wants to talk about the racial overtones. ***NEWS FLASH*** White folks do not wake up every morning thinking about how to screw over black folks. The movie was great. I loved it then and I love it now. I'm pretty sure the people who made this movie decided to make a funny movie with a great comedian of that era. I couldn't think of a better comedian to have as a toy, white or black.

To all my folks who seem to get upset at Richard Pryor and or the directors for making this movie, don't be. Be upset at Petey Greene for showing everyone how to eat a watermelon. You Tube that if you don't believe me.

---

8 out of 12 people found the following review useful:
A Southern Billionaire buys a Black Man for his son., 31 December 2002
Author: gravyshanks from Los Angeles

"The Toy" is a remake of the French movie "Le Jouet," but writer Carol Sobieski and director Dick Donner have infused it with a racist theme that is specifically American.

US Bates (Gleason), a wealthy, powerful Louisiana industrialist purchases, Jack Brown, a janitor (Pryor) to perform as an object for his spoiled son's amusement.

After an initial period of friction due to young Eric's (Schwartz) obnoxious, selfish behavior, they agree to investigate Bates's personal and professional misbehavior in a home-made newspaper, called "The Toy."

Infuriated, Bates demonstrates to the two investigators that he owns the people who work for him by ordering his assistant named Morehouse (Beatty) to drop his pants on command (he later screams at another assistant "I told you to dance!")

The iconoclastic rebels who finally take down Bates at a Klan fundraiser are Eric's innocent generation who never knew Jim Crow and the truth-burdened, unemployed black man with nothing to lose because he's already at the bottom.

This movie is filled with enough Pryor minstrelsy to keep movie-going Whitey occupied and chuckling, but is at the same time digging deep into the reality and shame of this country's racist past, and, indeed, present. And we haven't even addressed the alcoholic indentured man-servant Barkley (Hyde-White) or the Fraulein-who-cries-Mandingo (Leslie-Lyttle.)

From the buying of Brown to the sycophantic staff to the Senator-for-hire Newcomb (consonance: Nuke 'Em,) US Bates proves that slavery isn't over...people just cost a little more these days.

In this day when skirting the issue of race and playing it safe at the risk of being offensive has crushed any discussion of racism in this country, it's nice to see that Hollywood once had the balls to make a movie that called a spade a...well, you get it.

Oh, and the kid grows up to be a porn star.

---

4 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Pryor is the main reason to this film., 20 May 1999
Author: Rid.X

I've seen this movie more times than I'd ever admit to, and the thing that keeps me watching is Pryor. He shines in just about every scene he's seen, especially when he's paired with the Wonder-Wheel. It's just that the rest of the film isn't on the level.

That's not to say it's a bad film; it's just not a solid one. This remake of a Francis Veber film (the name escapes me) finds Pryor as Jack Brown, an unemployed writer who seeks a job with a newspaper. He arrives at Bates Industries, run by the powerful industrialist U.S. Bates (Jackie Gleason). He works a variety of odd jobs, incl. a janitor in a department store, where he is spotted by U.S. Bates' spoiled son, Eric, during the afforementioned Wonder-Wheel fiasco. Eric wants Jack as a toy, and this leads to a movie that blends the comedic with the sentimental, and works about half of the time.

The movie does take it's time to illustrate the goings-on in the Bates home. Eric spends much time tormenting Jack; during their first night, he shoots firecrackers at him, among other things. The two of them play air-hockey, and when Jack is beating Eric, the boy quits. Jack questions the boy if his father knows that his son is a quitter, to which Eric replies, "He doesn't care what I am, as long as I stay out of his way." That scene illustrates Eric's m.o.; he's frustrated at the neglect and inattentiveness he receives from his father, and expresses it in rebellious behavior.

That's all good and well, and that scenario does have a positive resolution, but the movie is burdened with unnecessary elements that don't belong in a movie like this. The movie has a racist subtext: Jack essentially allows himself to be bought, even though he says he can't. There's also a subplot towards the end dealing with the Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan that serves no purpose other than to wreck a party. And U.S. Bates' wife, Fancy, is a poorly-drawn character; she comes along with an impressive bust and an annoying voice, and does little that is humorous, aside from her pronounciation of "U.S."

Still, the main reason to see the film is Pryor. See it for no other reason than to see a legend doing what he does best.

---

1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Richard Pryor is a very funny man, 14 October 2010

Author: dafuzzbudd from United States

Richard Pryor is a very funny man. This was my first experience seeing him in a movie and I will be looking for more. The movie starts out about Pryor needing to find a job. He gets hired by a rich CEO to be his kid's toy. Towards the end the plot starts to break away from what the movie initially starts to do and gets too serious and uncomfortably unfunny at times. There's a scene where they go fishing and it felt like an forced switch up of scenery.

The racial humor is carried well by Pryor and made the movie overall a good watch.

7/10

---

2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Important Evidence For How Great The Original Is !, 7 December 2008
Author: ahmed elshikh (ahmed_abd_elreheem@yahoo.com) from Egypt

It's nearly a shot-by-shot remake for the French masterpiece (Le Jouet - 1976); so much for saying I think !. (Richard Pryor) filled it with his own buffoonery, and some funny lines, but he couldn't capture the serious sense of the story, he almost dealt with the movie as a toy itself. He was a golden star at the moment, so maybe they left him do whatever he wants. Or maybe that's the taste of his comedy anyway. (Richard Donner) made it fairly but it's still one of his most spiritless movies that lacks the personal touch, he was executing more than creating at this break between the end of the 1970s' (Superman)'s movies, and his works at the mid-1980s : (Ladyhawke), (The Goonies), then (Lethal Weapon).

Of course the comparison isn't for the sake of the American movie. Firstly, there are no changes, they kind of translated the French movie to American the way they translated le jouet to the toy ("The Toy" is what "Le Jouet" means in English). They only added a storyline about racism which suited (Pryor)'s character, and harmonized with the motif (as if slavery still exists, making the poor as the rich people's toy). And also, it utilized somehow the stepmother as a sexual toy herself. But overall nothing could reach to the original's special pace, or exceptional personality.

(Donner), with the 2 scriptwriter, lacked the French director (Francis Veber)'s smart touches while he was transforming his own short story into feature film; for example, at (Le Jouet), the rich man's villa was dark, the silence worked powerfully more than the talking, and it didn't go to repeat the domino's fall, or show off the stepmother's body !. Let alone, how here the adult joking is ruling, there is a purposed kick out of hearing the boy says "Boob", or else familiar matters. (Patrick Williams)'s music was very cute, but not up to (Vladimir Cosma)'s tender memorable score. And nothing can imitate the original's end, which's one of the most touching and expressing cinematic endings I've ever seen.

Have watched the original or not, this one is good, fresh and solid as an afternoon movie. In fact its good condition is a perfect proof of the original's beauty, though it's obvious that (The Toy) couldn't be as "unique" as (Le Jouet).

---

2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
Not too bad, 31 August 2005

Author: Juan from Chicago, IL

Richard Pryor again plays the bumbling idiot in this comedy with a morality twist. The premise revolves around Richard losing his house, an opportunity to make a lot of money fast being a human toy for a rich store owner and the hilarity that ensues. While the film (and Richard) are indeed funny, it's hard to watch at times as the movie ATTEMPTS to balance racial/social class commentary with blaxpotation comedy. In one scene, Richard is giving the kid a lesson in friendship and the next we watch him running around bug eyed. And in the end, Richard plays the stereotypical blaxpotation character while Jackie Gleason is the great white rich dad. Its fun to watch but hard to digest.

---

2 out of 3 people found the following review useful:
A simple film you can watch over and over again, 26 November 2000
Author: (tbro71@hotmail.com) from Chicago, Illinois

This is simply put, a fun, charming movie about a boy (Scott Schwartz) who decides to make Richard Pryor his toy for a week while he visits his powerful father Jackie Gleason. Simple gags, jokes and life lessons are what this movie is all about. It should be noted that Schwartz, who also played "Flick" in A Christmas Story went on to co-star in non-sexual roles in hardcore XXX films, then did a XXX scene himself, virtually destroying any chance for a comeback as an adult actor.

---

3 out of 5 people found the following review useful:
ONE OF MY FAVORITES!!!, 16 July 2002
Author: (robocoptng986127@aol.com) from U.S.A

*** This review may contain spoilers ***

[CONTAINS SPOILERS]

Jack Brown is down on his luck. He's without job and his house is about to be auctioned off by the bank. He tries getting a job, but comes up empty handed. Finally, it get's so bad, he applies to be a cleaning lady at a department store owned by U.S. Bates, mega milionaire that owns south central Louisiana. One night, while Jack was playing with toys in the toy department, U.S. Bates' 9-year-old son, Eric, (who was on break from military school)

witnessed this and literally bought him! Jack was not too crazy about being a toy, so Mr. Bates had to shove a little money his way. Jack has a run-in with a boxing robot, a bunch of stuffed animals and an air hockey game. Then one day, Jack suggests he and Eric start a newspaper. Jack gives Eric the nickname Scoop, which he detests. They then learn that Mr. Bates had fired one of his employees for no reason, so Jack and Eric decide to get the lowdone on Mr. Bates. They interview Barkley, Bates' English butler and ask Mr. Bates to tell how he and his bubble headed third wife Fancy met. They put it all in the newspaper. Mr. Bates is furious when he finds out. Jack and Eric also sabotage a party Mr. Bates was throwing, because one of his guests was the Grand Wizard of the Klu Klux Klan! But in the end, all turns out well. Jack gives Mr. Bates some helpful tips on how to better his relationship with his son, then takes off. I really enjoy this movie. It's one of my favorites.

Richard Pryor and Jackie Gleason are fabulous together. Unfortunately, Jackie Gleason is no longer with us. He died in 1987. Also dead is Wilfrid Hyde-White who played Barkley. He died in 1995. They shall be missed, but they will always be remembered in great movies they did, like this one; Scott Schwartz played Flick, Ralphie's friend in A Christmas Story the following year. Richard Pryor is currently 61 and not doing too well. So in conclusion, you must see this movie! Thank you, and hang in there, Richard!

--

---

---

Page 1 of 4:

[1] [2] [3] [4]

Add another review

---

Related Links

Plot summary	Plot synopsis	Amazon.com summary
Ratings	Awards	External reviews
Parents Guide	Plot keywords	Main details
Your user reviews	Your vote history