Death to Smoochy (Widescreen Edition)
by Danny DeVito
Our Price: $17.95
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.70 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD details
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD details
Actor: Catherine Keener, Danny DeVito, Edward Norton, Jon Stewart, Robin WilliamsDirector: Danny DeVito
Brand: Warner Brothers
Producer: Andrew Lazar
Producer: Doug Davison
Producer: Jill Besnoy
Producer: Jody Hedien
Producer: John Kreidman
Producer: Joshua Levinson
Writer: Adam Resnick
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 109 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2002-09-17
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Reviews of Death to Smoochy (Widescreen Edition)
DVD Review: Not for me, thanks
Summary: 2 Stars
I know some people who like this movie very much, so it must have some appeal. However, while watching Death to Smoochy, I found it to be one of the most unpleasant, tiresome, and unfunny comedies I have ever seen. I am a huge fan of satire, and I anticipated seeing an interesting or savage take on children's television. Unfortunately, the film is as dull and repellent to me as its characters.
Robin Williams plays a sleazy, corrupt host of a children's show that I could never see a child liking (it looks like some sort of acid-trip musical starring grumpy-looking midgets). It is found out that Williams accepts bribes from parents to put their kids on his show. Thus, Williams is replaced by squeaky-clean folksinger Edward Norton, who is the purple rhino "Smoochy" of the title. As the hugely naive Norton slowly discovers that much corruption runs rampant throughout the children's television industry, Williams seeks revenge.
Williams and Norton are two of my favorite actors, however I was not especially impressed by either of their performances in this film. Although Williams has a few brief, brief moments of drama, most of his scenes consist of him acting as loud, manic, and disgusting as possible (I wonder why this character would want to be a children's show host to begin with?). There is not much artistry to his performance at all.
While Williams' character at least has some complexity, Norton's character is so one-note and mild-mannered that he unfortunately does not have as much charisma as he should. Also, Norton's character screams a shrill, crazed voice as he hosts his show, thus coming across as more of a creep as opposed to the "wholesome role-model" he's supposed to portray (I think the film would have been much more interesting if the children's shows were portrayed more realistically, therefore creating a contrast between the shows and the corruption backstage).
Fortunately, though, there are some good performances. The always lovely and amazing Catherine Keener plays a TV producer who, although intelligent and realistic, has a strange attraction to Norton's character. Also, the great comic Jon Stewart plays Keener's boss. Stewart could have been as loud and annoying as the characters around him, however he gives his character a quiet and more subdued turn. His performance isn't stellar, but it's noticeable.
Unfortunately, Death to Smoochy disappointed me with its shallowness and ugliness. There's a difference between films that are bizarre in an interesting or entertaining way (great films like Pulp Fiction, Fargo, Fight Club, American Beauty, Raising Arizona, etc.) and bizarre in an uncomfortable and odd way. This film takes the latter position, and it is one of the most tawdry, cheap, and miscalculated films I have seen. I didn't laugh once.
Description of Death to Smoochy (Widescreen Edition)
Randolph Smiley (ROBIN WILLIAMS) has it all - as the costumed star of the highest rated kid's show on TV, "Rainbow Randolph" has a Manhattan penthouse, a Times Square billboard featuring his beloved character, cars , boats, horses and all the indulgence that celebrity brings. Until he get's caught by the Feds in an under the table bribe, busted and instantly reviled, Randolph is a star no more. Enter Sheldon Mopes (EDWARD NORTON) and his alter-ego "Smoochy", a puffy, fuscia rhinoceros. Smoochy is the perfect remedy for what ails the networks...Now it's Smoochy who's got the swanky penthouse, the Times Square billboard and the smooth-talking agent (DANNY DEVITO). Sheldon soon learns that children's television is a dangerous world steeped in corruption, back-stabbing and violence with his biggest problem being Rainbow Randolph. Broke and homeless, Randolph seeks revenge on the Rhino that stole his job and his house; he's convinced the foam rubber carpetbagger is the face of evil sent by the devil to destroy him and he will not sleep until Smoochy takes a permanent dirt nap.Guaranteed to please anyone who thinks Barney is Satan's spawn, Death to Smoochy mines comedy gold by skewering children's television. Adam Resnick's easy-target satire blossoms under the demented influence of director-costar Danny DeVito, who honors his legacy of venom-laced humor with the raucous rivalry of scandalized former kid-show host Rainbow Randolph (Robin Williams) and his squeaky-clean replacement, Sheldon Mopes, a.k.a. Smoochy the Rhino (Edward Norton). Randolph is insanely obsessed with getting his job back, but Smoochy's a smash, and their war for kid-vid supremacy places a jaded "KidNet" producer (Catherine Keener) in the middle of a Rainbow/Rhino smackdown. A few lulls are easily forgiven since much of Death to Smoochy is laugh-out-loud hilarious, with DeVito, Robert Prosky, Jon Stewart, and Harvey Fierstein in choice supporting roles. It's no wonder DeVito's taboo-busting drew fire from family groups and actual kid-show producers; only the humorless would fail to laugh at Smoochy's uncompromised irreverence. --Jeff Shannon
Bestsellers in DVD
![The Story of Jeremiah [VHS] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
The Story of Jeremiah [VHS]Vision Video; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Wresting With God [VHS]by Vision Video
Vision Video; Published: 1990-10-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Study Bible Video with Workbook [VHS]Spring Arbor Distributors; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.95
Price in other shops:
Tempo:Childrens TV Favourites Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $9.17
Price in other shops:
Tempo.Herbs:Parseley'Sb/ Party Video [VHS]HarperCollins Audio; VHS Tape; VHS Video
![Strike the Original Match [VHS] Image](/images/Strike-the-Original-Match-VHS-0001374079-X.jpg)
Strike the Original Match [VHS]New Liberty Films; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
![Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS] Image](/images/Medjugorje-The-Miracles-and-the-Message-VHS-0001373293-X.jpg)
Medjugorje The Miracles and the Message [VHS]JPN Film Production; Release date: 1995-12-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.99
Mayo Clinic Echocardiography Review Course for Boards and Recertification DVD 2008by Mayo
DVD
Price in other shops:
Pediatric Diagnostic Imaging DVD: Single Userby Oakstone
DVD
Price in other shops:
Cost Accounting [VHS]by Charles T. Horngren, George Foster, Srikant M. Datar, Howard Teall
Pearson Canada, Toronto; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Similar DVDs, VHS Video, Audio CDs
Land of the LostNBC Universal; Release date: 2009-10-13; Published: 2009-10-01; DVD
Best price: $5.23
Price in other shops:
Bicentennial ManBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2000-06-13; DVD
Best price: $3.47
Price in other shops:
The Painted VeilWarner Brothers; Release date: 2007-05-08; Published: 2007-05-01; DVD
Best price: $3.99
Price in other shops:
Down in the ValleyTHINKFILM LLC; Release date: 2006-09-26; Published: 2006-09-01; DVD
Best price: $2.97
Price in other shops:
Keeping the FaithBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2000-10-17; Published: 2000-10-01; DVD
Best price: $3.68
Price in other shops:
ToysFox Home Entertainment; Release date: 2001-10-16; DVD
Best price: $3.47
Price in other shops:
The Fisher KingIMG; Release date: 2010-12-07; DVD
Best price: $4.46
Price in other shops:
25th HourBuena Vista Home Video; Release date: 2003-05-20; DVD
Best price: $3.07
Price in other shops:
Primal FearRelease date: 1998-10-21; Published: 1998-10-01; DVD
Best price: $9.95
Price in other shops:
The ScoreScore; Release date: 2001-12-11; DVD
Best price: $3.67
Price in other shops: