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. Scott Schwartz plays Eric Bates, a bratty 9-year-old whose
multimillionaire father, U.S. Bates (Jackie Gleason), "buys" him an unemployed news reporter, Jack Brown (Pryor), as his personal plaything. It's a one-joke premise, played out through several terrible gags. Pryor demonstrates his ineffable elan, but otherwise THE TOY is an unfunny flop.
Released:
1982
Rated:
PG
Length:
99 mins