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I have to wonder
what has made Danny DeVito such an angry man.
If films are a representative reflection of a film makers
view on the world, then DeVito is not a happy camper, and we are
the victims of this rage. With
Death to Smoochy, DeVito has fired a laborious, mean-spirited
salvo in the direction of children’s entertainment,
commercialism, and the cultish faire that draws in today’s
youthful minds. What
could have been a very dark comedy, exposing the social ills of
this often unseen, but probably fairly accurate link the media and
publicity machine, instead gets bogged down with excessive and
unnecessary subplots. Even
Robin Williams, whose manic nature takes a macabre twist, goes too
much over the top if that is possible, while Norton’s
contradictory milquetoast performance, a couple of humorous
moments, and some societal observations that are frighteningly
accurate, cannot save this film from dragging us thru this muddy
mess.
There is a scene
during the films climatic sequence that involves an ice capades
retrospect of what the title character has been through to get to
this point. It is
entertaining, creative and insightful.
I just wish that the writers had put those same qualities
into the remainder of the film, because going through all of may
have been trying on the character, but it was downright brutal for
the audience. Rainbow
Randolph is a defrocked children’s television host, who is
replaced by a struggling performer (Norton) who has been relegated
to playing hospital openings and such. When he gets the shot, because the network head (Stewart)
and his talent coordinator, Nora (Keener) decided that they
needed an infusion of morality, he becomes a hit.
He is offered franchising opportunities, befriended by a
bumbling ex-boxer/restaurant owner (Rispoli) with hooligans
for relatives and loathed initially by Nora (which translates into
a love story later of course), attached to a smarmy agent (DeVito)
and bullied by a crooked charity organization (Fierstein).
Oh yes, and then there is Randolph's revenge thing which I assumed
was the basis for the movie, but becomes the hellish center in
this crowded universe of moronic subplot satellites.
Screenplay writer Resnick must be bitter for having written two
bombs (Cabin Boy and Lucky Numbers), after gaining notoriety
writing for Letterman's late night show. His story, and
DeVito's direction almost defy words in their acerbic, uncaring
attitude towards anything and everything in this film. I
understand that dark comedies lampoon, but this doesn't just cross
the line, it does warp speed over it, oblivious of any mores,
sensibility or intelligence.
Norton and
Williams are contradictory in character, and become almost
cartoonish in their extremes.
Norton seems to good and moral to be true, which he can do,
but you always sense there is something deeper inside him, since
he has the talent to mask simmering intensity that seeps out,
through his eyes and methodical actions.
As Mopes/Smoochy, he does his best with what he is given,
but he seems a bit uncomfortable at times, and I have to wonder if
he is becoming desperate or losing his edge at choosing projects.
Between this and The Score, Norton is officially in a
slump. As for
Williams, his characters will either be serious, with a hint of
humor (Good Will Hunting) or over the top and out of control (Mrs
Doubtfire,Aladdin). In
this role, he is manic, as expected, and unleashed completely, but
he seems to be trying to do too much, even for his standards, as
he struggles to save this movie through his extraneous efforts.
The supporting characters, save a nice snarling turn by
Harvey Fierstein as a crooked charity organization head, are
wasted, which is a shame indeed, especially for Keener who has
proven her proficiency for the murkier, confusing sides of life
(Being John Malkovich
Ultimately,
Death to Smoochy is a droning attempt at dark comedy and social
commentary that is more complex and mean spirited than it needs to
be. The key to the
sub-genre of black comedy is two pronged: First, finding an irony
in normal occurrences and exploring the shadows of it, or second,
taking something natural and going to the extremes with to the
point where you can’t but laugh, but also feel you shouldn’t
be. What should be a
tongue-in-cheek lambasting style of revenge for parents sick of
the “I Love You” rift, turns into a coldhearted, angry chain
of seemingly neverending expletives and hateful dialogues and
satirizations. Smoochy does touch on some social aspects, and have moments
and doses of humor, but they don’t appear consistently enough,
and go too far into the reaches that the do expose.
The film could have benfitted from less of a story,
focusing on the revenge factor, with a couple of the side stories
to give flavor or edge (like the Coen brothers), but
instead, it results to see how many times it can offend or
frustrate us, and how many institutions it can drag down into the
mire with it. I did
laugh, at times, but more than anything, I felt pity for the
talent of Williams and Norton being wasted, and a great potential
story idea being forsaken in the spirit of embittered anger,
towards whom, I am not quite sure. Death to Smoochy will go down
as one of the most well cast, well filmed, angriest movies in
history, and I sure hope DeVito gets all of this ire out of his
system before we are subjected to his next project. Since he’s
already tackled dysfunctional marriages (War of The Roses)
and childhood in this one, I am guessing that he has some pent up
fears that he should deal with offscreen before making his next
film.
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