The 2022-2023 Film Journal Entry #8: "Death to Smoochy"

2022-2023 Film Journal Entry #8

by Xavier E. Palacios

"Death to Smoochy"

3.5 out of 5

Directed by Danny DeVito

Rated "R"

In New York City, "Rainbow" Randolph Smiley (Robin Williams) is a beloved and successful children's show icon who falls from grace after being exposed for taking bribes. To save the reputation of their network, selfish executive Marion Stokes (Jon Stewart) and disillusioned producer Nora Wells (Catherine Keener) are tasked with finding a new star who has no chance of creating any controversy. Their search brings the eternally optimistic, endlessly noble, and painfully naïve performer, Sheldon Mopes (Edward Norton), and his costumed "Smoochy the Rhino" persona, out of obscurity and into the limelight as a children's television star. Particularly after the devious Burke Bennet (Danny DeVito) connives his way into being the talent's agent, Sheldon is thrust into the dark world of television production where he faces threats upon his reputation by the vengeful and disturbed Randolph, cutthroat politics by blackhearted bosses interested only in gaining profit out of children, and nefariously greedy mobsters who believe murder is just business. All the while, Sheldon struggles to be true to his graceful but incompatible beliefs on the world as his life is flung into comical chaos.

Finally, and third time's apparently the charm, a Robin Williams-starring film in the past twelve months I can say I really liked. Call me crazy and or say I have bad taste, but I actually had a good time with Death to Smoochy. In fact, I think the film may have more value in today's world than the one of 2002 when the work was released. That fact alone is always a fascinating discovery for any piece of art or media.

The cast, (including Jon Stewart without grey hair, which is bizarre to see), work well together. They each make their characters memorable and likeable no matter if they are being humorously despicable or wholesomely sincere. These actors fit the Adult Swim-tone of this dark farce, with Norton perfectly playing Sheldon as a definitive Mr. Fred Rogers disciple and Robin Williams giving a believable humanity to the otherwise scummy but funny Randolph. I even bought the blossoming romance between Sheldon and Nora, and I hardly ever say that for Hollywood films like this one. I also find the direction of the flick to be energetic, interesting, and at times rather excellent, like the exquisitely executed and wonderfully low-brow Nazi rally gag. (As a funny side note, I laughed at the image of Edward Norton, who played the redeemed Neo-Nazi, Derek Vinyard, in American History X, a film so horrific I never actually finished the tale, being disturbed at attending such an event). None of the filmmaking here is particularly classical, but I have never seen such a point as reason to disregard engaging craft.

Death to Smoochy is also a funny comedy, from the original premise, the clever one-liners ("She's gone down on everything but the Titanic!" Golly, I miss Robin Williams), the outrageous scenarios, the over-the-top context, and the great satire. I do not understand critic's comments from 2002 to today saying the film is poorly constructed. No, not everything works, but the verbal and visual jokes hit far more than they miss because the ludicrous nature of the whole piece is well-established by the filmmakers and understood by the performers. In fact, not only is the picture very easy to follow and accept on its own terms, but the piece admirably balances risqué humor with heartfelt characterization. Perhaps a film like this one was always better suited for a generation where comedies like Futurama, Dragon Ball Z Abridged, Red vs. Blue, and You're the Worst are modern classics, but, then again, filmmaker Mel Brooks, long known for tiptoeing the line between distasteful and cunning humor, had been a household name for decades by the early 2000s. In any case, regarding the filmmaking and jokes, trust me, especially as part of the aforementioned generation, I have seen many terribly made "dark", "adult", "gross", "naughty", or "taboo" comedy productions, and Death to Smoochy is not one of them.

Regarding the picture's satire, sure, the material is not as brilliant as the Danny DeVito co-starring masterpiece TV show, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, but the work is very accomplished. One of the reasons why the film's analysis of hero worshipping and ideology-by-corporation succeeds is exemplified through the following bit of uncanny coincidence. I saw this film in the week of the release for the controversial and overly-publicized Hogwarts Legacy video game. (While the series' fans may care enough to make the game a tentpole product in the gaming industry, my best friend, Phillip, the biggest gamer I ever knew, is buddies with other seriously dedicated gamers and none of them give a darn about this piece's supposedly "highly-anticipated" release. So, I can safely say, Hogwarts Legacy's arrival is not revelatory to gamers to deserve the non-stop marketing buzz I have had to endure every time I use Google these past few months).

This product is based on the cherished Harry Potter books authored by a woman who helped teach an entire generation the salvation of love, friendship, and kindness and the downfall of ignorance, hatred, and rejection of the supposed "other". The same woman who will receive delectable royalties from the game's sales and now incessantly spews unprompted and deliberate comments, promotions, and ideals of disregarding and disrespecting transexual folk. Consequently, with that topic on my mind as I started the film, Death to Smoochy felt to me more like a picture more about today than twenty-one years ago. Not everything in the film predicted the present. The fact that Sheldon being falsely associated with Neo-Nazis gets his show cancelled is not entirely up-to-date on cultural and business practices. Yet much of this film bizarrely brings a mirror to the world I am living in now; a reminder of what great comedy can do.

In my present time, representatives of human integrity can turn out to be longtime, hypocritical monsters, best exemplified through Randolph who, even without taking bribes, did not follow the positive ideology he gains wealth from. I share Nora's disappointment in people like him, and their continued triumphs have made she and I bitter, cynical, and disillusioned. A corporation run by uncaring and profiteering goons that produces media for children deriving profit through selling shallow merchandise and profitable "principles" strewn from their wholesome properties full of intellectual and artistic potential? While applying to characters like Stokes, Bennet, the Irish mob, and the Kidnet executives who (problematically) succeed by picture's end, that description can also refer to the modern business practices of Disney and Warner Bros., the latter of which is producing Hogwarts Legacy, by the way. (Those studios, man: they continue to be the thorn-covered and puss-spewing leeches upon my creative spine).

Today, knowing what is right and wrong is, most of the time, still fairly simple. In a sense, comedian George Carlin's bit on the Ten Commandments, which argues that there are really only two commandments, continues to apply to the world: "Thou shall always be honest and faithful to the provider of thy nooky and thou shall try really hard not to kill anyone" (I am leaving out the very end of the punchline for simplicity's sake). Yet, as Sheldon's struggles demonstrate, sticking to and sharing the universal morals from the three entities he references, Captain Kangaroo, Sesame Street, and Jesus Christ, is harder than ever if he wants to survive on or off the stage. So much of the film's conversations about what to believe and do in a backwards, media-bred world of half-lies and mostly-truths are ones I am now forced to consider every day.

Death to Smoochy tackles these ideas directly and in an entertainingly twisted way, which makes the flawed piece work for me. Some of these concepts are not as developed as they should be, (though I appreciate the film's redemptive arc). But this flick's creative filmmaking, strong cast, gallows humor, off-kilter attitude, and valuable satire are just too good for me to dismiss. I mean, the picture has this joke: "When I was a kid and my brothers and I played Cowboys and Indians, I was always the Chinese railroad worker." But the film's sincere motto is also Sheldon's: "You can't change the world, but you can make a dent." With this kind of work, I can see why Death to Smoochy has rightfully become a cult film.