The Toy (1982)

Now that may sound misleading since Lovecraft had nothing to do with this Pryor, Gleason and Donner comedy, but there was so much in it that would be impossible to comprehend.First let's address the elephant in the room. Yes it's a rich white Billionaire buying a black man for his kid to play with. Yes by all accounts it's modern day slavery. Yes this pretty much became severely harsher in hindsight not just from those implications, but due to the recent events surrounding human trafficking. But what I like about the movie isn't just the comedy once you get past it. But the fact that they managed to get this movie made at all in spite of the implications. If a censor today were to look at this idea, they would probably have the human equivalent to Blue Screen of Death before going insane at how they managed to get away with that. And that's why I consider it a Lovecraft movie. Because it's that F***ing crazy.

Everyone wants to talk about the racial overtones. ***NEWS FLASH*** White folks do not wake up every morning thinking about how to screw over black folks. The movie was great. I loved it then and I love it now. I'm pretty sure the people who made this movie decided to make a funny movie with a great comedian of that era. I couldn't think of a better comedian to have as a toy, white or black.To all my folks who seem to get upset at Richard Pryor and or the directors for making this movie, don't be. Be upset at Petey Greene for showing everyone how to eat a watermelon. You Tube that if you don't believe me.

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

I saw this movie in the theatres when I was a kid. I knew I was maturing when I wanted to leave the theatre instead of enduring this trash. The movie is not funny, it's pacing is dull, and overall offensive for everyone. Particularly the most galling scene of the movie is at the very end, when Pryor is shot in the head with suction darts, then runs down the street at super-speed (a la Benny Hill).Do yourself a favor and avoid this turkey.