davy (11/28/82)
#N:pur-ee:7000026:000:542 pur-ee!davy Nov 27 23:17:00 1982 "The Toy", for those of you who haven't seen the previews, is a story about a poor black man (Richard Pryor) who "rents" himself to one of the richest men in the world (Jackie Gleason) as a toy for his son. The movie is hilarious, Richard Pryor is at his all-time best. I won't divulge any parts of the movie, I'll just recommend that everyone go see it as soon as it hits your town (we had a sneak preview of it here tonight). This may well be the best movie Hollywood is going to give us this Christmas. --Dave Curry pur-ee!davy
upstill (11/30/82)
Umm, not to be a scrooge or anything, I can't let anybody rush out
thinking that the The Toy is much of a movie, or anything more than a
vehicle for Richard Pryor. I'd give it 2-1/2 stars, at least one of
which is due solely to Pryor.
Specific complaints: the movie had almost zero emotional continuity
and very little in the way of motivation for almost anything that goes
on, and there's a lot going on. Scenes had so little sense in relation
to the whole movie that I'd have sworn reels were switched.
Don't get me wrong, it's a pleasant enough movie, one with its heart
in the right place, one I'll tell my mother to see. But once again, that
is almost entirely due to Pryor, alas.
Steve