Watch The Toy For Free

Why so much hype?

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

The comedic might of Pryor and Gleason couldn't save this dog from the tissue-thin plot, weak script, dismal acting, and laughable continuity in editing this mess together. It has a very few memorable moments, but the well dries up quickly. As a kid I remember this as a Luke-warm vehicle for the two actor-comedians, but there was always something strange about the flow and feeling of what was being conveyed in each scene and how this ties to the plot overall. Watching it again after many years, it screams schlock-a-mania. I'm not so concerned with the racial controversy, as I wouldn't mind seeing a movie take that issue on with a little levity. The most obvious fault to me is that the scenes are laid out like a jumbled, non-related series of 2 minute situation comedy bits (any not very good ones at that), that were stapled together by the editor after an all-nighter at the local watering hole. Characters change feelings and motivations on a dime, without rhyme nor reason, between scenes and within scenes, making this feel as though no one had any idea of what to get out of the screenplay. Not that it was any gem to start with. I feel bad for the two actors whose legacy is marred by this disaster that should never have been made. Maybe my sense of humor has become too refined...

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).

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

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.