Death to Smoochy

Spring Movie Preview

Entertainment Weekly, February 15, 2002

Starring: Robin Williams, Edward Norton, Catherine Keener, Jon Stewart

Written by: Adam Resnick

Directed by: Danny DeVito

Buzz-O-Meter: 8/10

Ever wanted to strangle Barney the purple dinosaur after one too many insipid sing-alongs? This could be the movie for you: a pitch-black comedy about the revenge exacted by kiddie-show host Rainbow Randolph (Williams) after he gets replaced by squeaky-clean rhino impersonator Smoochy (Norton). Says Williams of his fictional rival: "He's like a big, plush Sid & Marty Krofft reject." In other words, he must be destroyed. Working from an original script by Resnick (a Larry Sanders Show alum who also wrote Cabin Boy and Lucky Numbers), DeVito returned to the vein of his nasty late-'80s comedies The War of the Roses and Throw Momma From the Train. "Danny's got that laugh, like a troll without a bridge," says Williams. "He'd just push it to get darker and crazier." Stewart, who plays a smarmy programming exec, says the story seemed to come from a personal place in Resnick. "He has a bit of a clown thing," Stewart deadpans. "Never play calliole music around him. He gets nauseous, starts panicking. 'Don't touch...bearded lady...stop!' It's terrible." And as Rainbow plots Smoochy's downfall, things get violent and four-letter words fly. "We had a great idea for the trailer." Williams reports. "It would say, 'We're all looking for a movie to take our children to. This is not that movie.'"

Bottom Line: Schadenfreude comedy this extreme may be a tricky sell - though Williams' about-face from cuddly to pathological has piqued our interest (March 29).

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