“Death to Smoochy”



Cheers to Danny De Vito for directing what might be the darkest and funniest film in years. Armed with a cast of extremely talented and funny actors and a script with hilarious dialogue and interesting plot twists, “Death to Smoochy” is a terrific film.

Rainbow Randolph (Robin Williams) is the hottest thing in children’s television. That is until the FBI busts him on charges of corruption. The TV studio is in a corner and they demand Randolph’s producers (Jon Stewart and Catherine Keener) find a replacement, one that is “squeaky clean.” They wade through a list of addicts and felons to find Smoochy (Edward Norton), a pink rhino reduced to playing methadone clinics. He’s so clean that after he’s been signed, he throws a wrench in the works and refuses all the Smoochy merchandise as exploitative. Enter Rainbow Randolph, who is willing to sink to whatever depths are necessary to get the job done.

This is a film brimming with cynicism, in which everyone’s full of crap and the focal point is Catherine Keener’s character that emerges as the film’s lead. At first, she tolerates Smoochy’s soy hot dogs and almond butter ketchup, assuming his layer of corruption is there. When she learns it isn’t, she falls in love.

Each character is well drawn and extremely funny. Robin Williams is at the top of his game as Randolph and Edward Norton gets another chance to show off his comedic prowess. The film is a twisted, fictional look behind the scenes of show business.

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