Grade:  B

Director:  Richard Donner		Released:  December 1982
Writer:  Carol Sobieski, from Francis Veber's book		MPAA Rating:  PG
Players:  Richard Pryor, Jackie Gleason, Ned Beatty, Scott Schwartz		Running time:  102 minutes

Ratings System

I don't know how many times I watched The Toy growing up.  It just had so many things going for it.  Richard Pryor, piranhas, a big-busted blonde nymph (Teresa Ganzel), and lots of toys.  What else could an eleven year old boy need in a movie?

I'm writing about this movie from memory, I haven't seen the film in over fifteen years.  I'm afraid to watch it again because I suspect it's not as good as I remember (kind of like The Black Hole).  As a general rule I try not to watch movies that I have fond childhood memories for if I haven't seen them in a really long time.

The funny things I remember: Pryor clad in Spiderman pajamas.  The sprinklers going off during a dinner party, turning the dinner into a wet T-shirt contest featuring the aforementioned busty blonde nymph.  Pryor wrestling with the "Wonder Wheel".  Pryor knocking over a setup of dominoes.  A painting in Gleason's office that slides away to reveal a hidden nude painting of the aforementioned busty blonde nymph.  And for some unexplainable reason I clearly remember the final scene where a limo pulls up and a kid shoots Pryor between the eyes with a rubber sticky-dart, and then he goes running down the street.  Not really funny, but ingrained in my memory.

Parts of The Toy are corny/preachy, but at the time I watched it, it was as if Richard Pryor was talking to me directly through the screen, teaching me a life lesson or two.  It's a good family comedy, probably dated.  Perhaps I'll watch it again some day.

- crocoPuffs