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Rainbow Randolph is a popular kids show host, whose songs like “Friends Come in All Sizes” are crowd pleasers. However, during a sting operation, he is arrested for accepting bribes and gets replaced by Smoochy the Rhino, aka Sheldon Mopes, who is “a walking bottle of maple syrup.” Of course, Randolph is mad, so he attempts to get Smoochy off the air and kill him. I’ll bet Barney and Seseme Street have the same sort of feud going on.
Enjoyable and sometimes funny, Death to Smoochy is best when showcasing Edward Norton, who is Smoochy, and Robin Williams, who is Randolph, together. They have chemistry together, but Catherine Keener gives another lackluster performance. She could always perform better, but she was better in this than Being John Malkovich. She has potential, she just doesn’t use it. Norton, although not the caliber of Fight Club, did perform excellently as the naïve children’s star. Williams puts in yet another great performance. Other characters, such as Danny DeVito as Smoochy’s agent, Jon Stewart as a person for the TV company, and Harvey Fierstein as a bad guy, did well. Also, the Irish mob is involved.
Another aspect I liked about this movie was that it also had some song/dance numbers, playing like a silly semi-musical. Smoochy and Randolph both have a few songs, and, out of the blue, Randolph dances. Very entertaining.
DeVito, who also directed this movie, could have made it a little less dark (dark comedies are not my favorite), but I enjoyed watching this movie, although I didn’t laugh all that often. Despite what the covers may say to you, this is not a kid’s movie, even though it has characters like that on it.
Also, many wacky analogies were used (it reminded me of Judge Harm on The Simpsons), which made me laugh a lot. The ending isn’t a complete surprise, but it isn’t totally predictable either, making Death to Smoochy a good rental some day.
Rated R for language and sexual references.
Review Date: March 7, 2003