Wow! What a bizarre film! Unfortunately the few funny moments there were were quite overshadowed by it's completely weird and random vibe throughout.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

When I was a kid I would watch this movie over and over and never tire of it. It was a favorite of mine. I knew nothing of the plot I only knew that Richard Pryor was a cut up and he was playing the role of a child's toy.Well, I just watched this movie this morning and this movie is humiliating. Richard Pryor plays Jack Brown, a clown claiming to be a journalist. No, he wasn't a clown by trade, he was a journalist but he was such a buffoon that there's no way he could've legitimately became a journalist. His foolish antics were so extreme that they got him fired as a cleaning "lady" (yes, cleaning lady) and got him hired as a child's toy. Not only was it humiliating watching Richard Pryor play the role of a total screw up but the humiliation only intensified when he was purchased. Yes, purchased; much like a slave trader would purchase a slave at an auction. A rich white kid named Eric Bates (Scott Schwartz) quite literally said, "I want to buy that black man." Jack Brown allowed himself to be bought/rented all the while proclaiming he had dignity.From there it was a series of abuse at the hands of Master Eric as is the norm with children and their toys. I guess there was a message built into the movie but it was lost on me because it was so horribly done. Whatever point that was made when Jack Brown and Eric Bates forged their relationship was lost amidst the complete buffoonery on Jack Brown's part. He lavishly screws up time and again yet had the nerves to ask U.S. Bates (Jackie Gleason) for a job as a journalist at his paper--commenting that no men of color worked there. If he hired Jack Brown it would have only been to fill a quota because Jack wasn't qualified to shine shoes let alone write for a newspaper.This farcical show was wretched. Pryor is a total stooge, Gleason is an oblivious quasi-racist rich fat cat and the kid is just another spoiled rich kid. If you like seeing black men playing stereotypical dumb you-know-what roles then this is the movie for you.

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.

Me and my sister used to watch this when we were children and we loved it. In fact, the last time I saw it I was only 8 years old, but I remember why I enjoyed the movie. I was too young to understand the adult politics but trust me this is a wonderful film for kids to watch. If I was to watch it now it will not be as powerful, and I may not even enjoy it. The point is this was a film made for children, and as this is the case only a child, or an adult who watched it and remembers it as a child are able to accurately review and justify it. Pryor's performance was superb and it shows how diverse he was being able to star in a children's film and manage to be so convincing and never patronises the film by under-performing.

When I was a kid I actually loved this movie, but now that I'm a man, I'm kinda horrified by "The Toy." A rich white man buys a black man for his spoiled son? Or at least rents a black man for his son. And they take baths together? Yikes! I love Pryor, but I have to assume he took this gig for the money to feed his notorious crack habit. Moral of this movie? If you're a rich white man you can buy a black man for your son. Can you imagine the firestorm of protest if this movie came out today? And oh yeah, the kid became a real life porn star!!!