Death to Smoochy (2002)

Directed by Danny DeVito. Starring Edward Norton, Catherine Keener, Robin Williams, Jon Stewart, Danny DeVito, Pam Ferris, Danny Woodburn, Michael Rispoli, Harvey Fierstein, Vincent Schiavelli. [R]

Disastrous dark satire of a sleazy, disgraced children’s entertainer, Rainbow Randolph (Williams), getting replaced on his show by a do-gooder, Smoochy the Rhino (Norton), who seems to actually have a good heart and believe what he preaches, but will the pressures of fame turn him into a self-serving cynic, too? The ingredients are here for something incisive and humorous (and there’s no denying the talent involved either), but the tone is so far off key that the results inspire cringing, and everything is pushed hard and blasted loud down all avenues save for (surprisingly enough) its attack on kiddie-show avarice and commercialism, which ends up being toothless. The aggressive visual schemes for which director DeVito is known create an unnaturally ugly aesthetic for the film to wallow in, subjecting the viewer to various indignities like the self-conscious art direction and camerawork, Jon Stewart’s haircut, and so on. It’s hard to even chuckle at the few moments that are actually amusing (a song about adjusting step-dads, “It’s small but fierce,” etc.) because of how much this film wears out and depresses…yet it’s actually acquired a minor cult following! Written by Adam Resnick. Robert Prosky makes a walk-on appearance.

24/100