The failure of Barry Levinson's Toys is of a different order: it's the kind of folly only a very fine filmmaker could make, a labor of misguided love.

The production design deserves Academy recognition. But at the most fundamental level, Toys is a film not quite sure what it's about.

...a few bursts of motor-mouthed comedy aren't enough to save Williams' man-child stick here...

No child I know would benefit from seeing this work, and certainly no adult.