Synopsis
On one of his bratty son Eric's annual visits, the plutocrat U.S. Bates takes him to his department store and offers him anything in it as a gift. Eric chooses a black janitor who has made him laugh with his antics. At first the man suffers many indignities as Eric's "toy", but gradually teaches the lonely boy what it is like to have and to be a friend.
Your Movie Library
Cast
- Richard PryorJack Brown
- Jackie GleasonUlysses Simpson 'U.S.' Bates
- Ned BeattySydney Morehouse
- Scott SchwartzEric Bates
- Teresa GanzelFancy Bates
- Wilfrid Hyde-WhiteBarkley
- Tony KingClifford
- Annazette ChaseAngela
- Don HoodO'Brien
- Karen Leslie-LyttleFraulein
Recommendations
- 70
Washington Post
The Toy would improve with a little tinkering. Still, it's surefire family fare. [10 Dec 1982, p.23] - 40
Time Out
Played straight, this could make some quite serious points about the predicament of the unemployed (Pryor as prostitute), but the film finds it easier to opt for cheap laughs. - 30
Washington Post
The Toy, starring Richard Pryor, is a coarsened American remake of a deft French comedy of the same title, which starred Pierre Richard and passed this way five or six years ago. Fluctuating wildly between facetiousness and solicitude, the new version never comes close to reproducing the sane, lightweight charms of the original. - 25
Miami Herald
Two energetic and wonderfully physical comedians, each among the best of his generation. But in their movie, The Toy, they do not amount to much. Pryor seems unhappy about some of his lines and situations, and well he might. It's hard to know just what Gleason thinks, as he is able to deliver even atrocious dialogue with a misanthropic zest that is always appealing, but he has a right to be embarrassed, too. [20 Dec 1982, p.B7] - 20
TV Guide Magazine
A dreadful remake of the French farce LE JOUET (1976), THE TOY is poorly written, over-directed, and filled with sophomoric attempts at humor. Only Richard Pryor's personal energy manages to save it from being complete rubbish. - 10
The New York Times
My mind wasn't simply wandering during the film - it was ricocheting between the screen and the exit sign. - 0
Newsweek
Comedy is no laughing matter; when a joke dies, the joker -- as well as the audience -- dies a little, too. At the end of Richard Pryor's latest comedy, The Toy, the viewer may require emergency medical attention. Shapeless, noisy, vulgar, sentimental and amateurish... [13 Dec 1982, p.83] - 0
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
The plot makes the casting look inspired. More than inane, it's offensive. [14 Dec 1982]
