The Popkorn Junkie :: Death to Smoochy

Ah, I love going to the first show on a weekday...you get the theater all to yourself! If the movie's bad, there's no one to wake you up! So, on the review of "Death to Smoochy"...I have no clue whether I liked this or hated it. This film does have some funny one-liners and moments but too often it's dull, boring, and survey says: uninspired.

Yes, there's just something odd about this movie. And I'm not talking about the pink rhino either. When Robin Williams isn't delivering a classic one-liner, he's over the top and going through the motions. Edward Norton and Catherine Keener are pretty good, but they to are over the top at times. And of course Danny DeVito has to cast himself in it!

At least he didn't give himself too much screen time. Technically, this film is sound (pun intended). There are some pretty nice shots and the costumes are kinda cute. But if the people wearing them aren't, then what's the point?

Again, there's something weird about this film. It just starts up-- no building the foundation or anything, and the characters refer to other characters that we have no clue about. There's too many characters, too much for the audience to keep track of. I think it was going fine when it was Randolph Vs. Smoochy, then they had to bring in another ex-kidnet host. Totally unneeded.

Now this really isn't a bad film per se, but it's definitely just for the diehard dark comedy lovers. I'm gonna give it a two. For the one-liners. This is one weird movie.

-- James ( 2 out of 4 pops )

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Other Junkie's opinions.....

Billy Ray ( 1 out of 4 pops )

What do you get when you mix Robin Williams, Edward Norton, Danny Devito, and Jon Stewart together? You would immediately think an instant comedy classic. You would be wrong. "Death to Smoochy" passes itself off as a dark comedy about an ex-kids show host trying to kill induce havoc on the new host. It is actually a lame attempt to poke fun at the industry. Robin Williams is pretty funny as the title character, but Norton looks like he is sleeping through his role. There just aren't many funny moments at all in this film, and the whole term 'dark comedy' implies that there is some comedy in there. Jon Stewart made me laugh a couple of times, but Danny Devito is not nearly as entertaining as he was in "Heist". Plus, Devito slips a little as director on this one. I was expecting something more, but received something lame and something very disappointing. This will probably be on my next year's list of the worst films, though it made me laugh a couple of times.

Mike ( 2 out of 4 pops )

I don't know how much I liked this film or how much I disliked this film. The entire movie seemed to be a dark satire on children's TV shows and not a real story. Lots of the movie I liked, especially the characters played by Ed Norton and Robin Williams. I also like the dark atmosphere of the film and the amazing cinematography and colors used by director Danny Devito. But the film was overlong and dragged in parts. It was a very bizarre and creative film, but enough of it just didn't work for me to give it a strong recommendation.