Review of Death to Smoochy (2002) by Taniel . — 08 Mar 2011

Death To Smoochy is a dark comedy from director Danny De Vito, the mean-spirited script is by Adam Resnick. The premise of the film is: When children's host Rainbow Randolph (Robin Williams) is fired after a bribery scandal, he is replaced with Smoochy (Edward Norton), who boasts a squeaky clean image. After Smoochy becomes a smash sucess of television, greedy corporate agents and Rainbow Randolph scheme to take him out of the picture.

This film is bizarre and has a vicious mean streak. It's one of the most shockingly cynical and nasty films i've ever seen. It's definitely not for the faint of heart, but it does contain a clever satricial message about the men who hosts these children programs. The script is refreshingly original, and De Vito's harsh direction is shameless. I gurantee, you won't see another film like Death To Smoochy. It's a one in a kind sort of movie.

The cast is terrific, it's a wonderful ensemble. First, you get Robin Williams, who is delicously manical and energetic as the devious Rainbow Randolph. Then, you get Edward Norton, who gives a comically light-hearted performance. Catherine Keener is great as the smart, strong female character of the film. Jon Stewart and Danny De Vito are respectable in supporting roles. Overall, for such a shockingly bad tasted film, I thought the performances were inspired and enjoyable.

The movie is very over-the-top, and intentionally does things to make the audience gasp. Sometimes it suceeds and sometimes it falls flat on it's face. It's jokes are so raunchy and mean spirited, that they either work really well, or they come off as forced and contrived. I liked this film a lot more than I thought I would, but it was too wildly inconsistent and cynically harsh for me to fully enjoy. Also, the ending is very jarring and will surely split audiences.

Death To Smoochy is a witty satricial take on children's entertainment programs, but it also suffers from an unnecessary mean streak and lack of consistent humor.