Death to Smoochy

Plot synopsis:
Randolph Smiley is the host of "The Rainbow Randolph Show", a popular children's tv show. Despite his friendly appearance on-stage, off-stage he is an arrogant and corrupt businessman who accepts bribes from parents who want to put their kids on his show. After an FBI sting exposes him, Randolph is fired and his show is cancelled. He is replaced with the "squeaky clean" Sheldon Mopes and his character, Smoochy the Rhino. Mopes is uniquely sincere and thoroughly interested in providing quality children's entertainment, and despite doubts from his hardened producer Nora Wells, his show quickly becomes tremendously popular. Meanwhile, Randolph turns to his former associate Marion Stokes and pleads to help him get his job back, but Stokes refuses. After several failed attempts to get Mopes fired, Randolph turns to his former partner Angelo Pike and asks if he can stay at his apartment, to which Angelo reluctantly agrees.
Mopes quickly finds himself losing creative control over his show to Nora and with the help of his new agent Burke Bennett, Mopes renegotiates his contract and is named executive producer. Irish mob boss Tommy Cotter approaches Mopes and asks him to create a spot on his show for her cousin Spinner Dunn, a former boxer whose numerous head injuries have left him with brain damage. Mopes reluctantly adds Spinner to the show, first as a cowbell-wielding game warden, and later on as Smoochy's cousin Moochy.
Mopes is horrified to learn that Burke has signed him up to star in a Smoochy ice show, as he fears that the event will exploit children. Burke and Merv Green, the head of the corrupt charity running the ice show, warn Mopes not to back out of the event but he does so anyway. Soon afterward, a disguised Randolph tricks Mopes into performing a Smoochy act at a neo-Nazi rally. Mopes is branded a racist and loses his job and show, and Nora refuses to help him. However, when Randolph barges into Nora's apartment and tries to convince her to help him get his job back, he accidentally reveals that he set Mopes up. Tommy and her crew then barge into Angelo's apartment and force Randolph to confess that he tricked Mopes. As a result, Mopes' show is restored and Randolph is dubbed the most hated man in America by the media. To make matters worse, a fed up Angelo kicks Randolph out of his house. After telling him that his show is back on the air, Nora kisses Mopes and has sex with him.
Mopes then decides to perform in an ice show, but without the corrupt charities. Burke and Green retaliate by plotting to kill Mopes and hire a new host who will cooperate with their profit skimming. Their plan backfires when, during a rehearsal, Green's men mistake Spinner in his Moochy costume for Mopes and murder him. When Tommy gets word of this, she retaliates by killing Green and his men. Meanwhile, Randolph corners Mopes and Nora in their penthouse and reveals to Mopes that Nora has had affairs with numerous children's show hosts, including Randolph himself. Mopes is hurt by this, but Nora insists that she has genuine feelings for him. They manage to calm Randolph down and discover that he genuinely misses entertaining children. Mopes offers to let him stay in the penthouse until he recovers.
Burke and Stokes decide to partner up after hearing of Green's death. They hire Buggy Ding Dong, another former kid show host, to assassinate Mopes during his ice show. Buggy steals a backstage pass to get inside, but before he can shoot Mopes he is confronted by Randolph. They struggle for the rifle until Buggy falls to his death in the ice rink. After Mopes realizes that Burke and Stokes set him up, he pulls a gun and threatens to kill Burke. Tommy and her men arrive and persuade him not to forfeit his high ideals. Tommy decides to take care of Burke and Stokes in her own way, Mopes and Nora share a kiss in Times Square, and Smoochy and Randolph launch a new show together.

Tags: comedy, murder, cult, flashback, psychedelic, satire, revenge

Review:
If you love Robin Williams and think he's one of the funniest men in the planet, if you're a fan of the great Edward Norton, if you think Catherine Keener is really hot, if you think Danny DeVito is a genius or if you simply wanna have a barrel of laughs--"Death to Smoochy" will keep you alive with pleasure.My score:  7 (out of 10).
This film is a dark comedy directed by Danny DeVito about the cut throat world of children's television.
In this film, a popular children's show host (Robin Williams, more madcap than he's been in ages) gets caught taking a bribe and is fired, being replaced by the squeaky clean Smoochy the Rhino (Edward Norton, who is excellent in the role).
But Death to Smoochy is an intelligent and well written film that is completely original.Edward Norton is spot on as the moralistic Sheldon Mopes and Robin Williams is absolutely hilarious as the off the rails Rainbow Randolph.
Otherwise, this black comedy offers a really wonderful character as the lead good guy: "Smoochy the Rhino," played well by Edward Norton.
That's the case with Catherine Keener, who seems to play a lot of these hard-looking, foul- mouthed women.....although "Smoochy" finally softens her up by the end of this story.At any rate, you have to appreciate black comedy and this kind of almost-perverse humor, to like this movie.
I didn't expect it from him after watching Fight club and American history X but he carried out his role really well.Catherine Keener also looked really beautiful, she played her power-hungry turned nice chick character to a tee.Even though the story is about a kids show, there's a lot of dark comedy in it e.g. the involvement of the Irish gangsters (by the way also very funny) showing what a good job Danny devito has done directing this film.
All seemed believable and Robin Williams was the star.If you watch this film, persevere for the first 20 minutes because after which the jokes and plot come in hard and thick.Top stuff, rent if you want a comedy with original storyline and a little bit of good humoured smut thrown in for good measure..
Despite the publicity hyping Williams, Edward Norton is the most firmly situated as the film's 'main character', which works, as Norton is unreasonably hilarious, superbly counteracting his usual intensity as charming yet irritatingly well intentioned children's entertainer Smoochy the Rhino, who goes out of his way to refuse merchandising money in favour of promoting organic, sugar free foods and respecting hostile step-parents on children's television.
Retaining his usual flair for colourful improvisation, Williams lets loose in a twisted, exceedingly dark fashion barely glimpsed before, and while he unquestionably rockets light years past being over the top, his slew of bitter, incensed, profanity-fraught rants are just about worth watching the film by themselves.Catherine Keener's credible charisma and warmth also help acclimatize a shaky character transition from nihilistically jaded producer to earnest, hopeful young woman, making the potentially weakest point of the film instead burst to life with a quirky spark.
The film also offers a collection of memorable character bits worthy of the Coen brothers, from Michael Rispoli's blustering, often incomprehensible lovable nitwit of a former boxer, Danny Woodburn's sardonic children's television actor, and an utterly hilarious Vincent Schiavelli as a narcoleptic, heroin addict assassin.While certainly not for all tastes, Death to Smoochy delivers a unique, daringly morbid and raucously hilarious product which manages to continually dodge expectations while remaining enjoyable.
The cast is also a great ensemble, including Edward Norton, Robin Williams, Catherine Keener, and Danny DeVitto among others.The problem for me was the delivery of the humor just didn't work.
The only scene that I really found memorable was Robin Williams's rant about a certain phallic shaped cookie.Maybe I'm overlooking some deep inner meaning or something, but for me this film just didn't work and while some will no doubt like it for being different, it's a tough sell..
Danny DeVito doesn't go overboard with the black comedy elements in the film and keeps it at a level for family viewing.This film stars DeVito along with notable actors Robin Williams and Edward Norton.
The film is about "Rainbow Randolph" Smiley (Robin Williams), a happily corrupt children's television host, who is disgraced by an FBI sting for making deals with parents who want their kids on the show.
Also, it's fair to say that, despite Robin Williams being billed as the 'star,' I was surprised at how much screen time was given to Edward Norton - really he should be billed as the star.There are mob hits, beatings, murder, blackmail and Nazis in this film - hardly the stuff of your average family comedy.
This hilarious dark comedy, directed by the genius Danny DeVito, shows the evil side behind cute and cuddly kids television programs and their lovable hosts.
The film contains top-notch actors that just add to the greatness of the script.Don't be scared off when the movie starts off with singing and dancing from Robin Williams's character Rainbow Randolph, who in the following scene gets in trouble with FBI after accepting bribes and loses his television show.Network executives are quick to bring in a replacement kids program, headed by Edward Norton's character, Smoochy the Rhino.
Smoochy is an innocent child entertainer who throughout the movie gets corrupted by the evils behind the child entertainment business.Along with the Irish-Mob being thrown in the mix, and a corrupted children's foundation called The Parade of Hope Foundation, everyone wants a piece of this up-and-coming children's entertainer, Smoochy the Rhino.With hilarious one liners thrown in everywhere in this film like: "Can you guess how many original compositions I have in the Smoochy songbook?
While he makes enemies within the studio, Rainbow Randolph is fuming and planning to destroy Smoochy and get his show back.I really wanted to love this simply because I am one of the few people in the UK who will have bothered to see this film since the collapse of FilmFour and poor US box office pretty much meant it barely reached video stores here.
Danny DeVito, Jon Stewart, Danny Woodburn, Edward Norton, Robin Williams, and the beautiful Catherine Keener all bring their A-Game to this feature and it works on nearly every level.Very few movies can make you cheer for the Irish mob.Final Grade: A.
The audience is meant to identify with Sheldon Mopes (Ed Norton) as an outsider who discovers that children's television programming is more of a criminal enterprise akin to a 1930's era Mafia than what "Sesame Street" would have you believe.There are levels of complexity in the characters that most people who consider the likes of "Scary Movie" to be classic comedy will likely miss.
But with this scathing black comedy, which regrettably died a box office death in 2002 in the US, he rediscovered the knack, as a homicidal former kids' presenter who plots to kill his rhino-suited replacement, Ed Norton, reminding us that he doesn't just do dramas.Director Danny DeVito over-cranks the grotesque camera angles, but this combines spot-on satire of kids' TV and some funny set-pieces  including Smoochy's inadvertent appearance at a Nazi rally.
Every actor in the movie pulls off their parts great, and Robin Williams is probably the most hilarious I've ever seen him.
But, given the movies premise being the story of a phsycopathic game show host I honestly don't know what anyone was expecting...I give it a 10 of 10 because the film is enjoyable and I've re-watched it plenty of times without it getting old and still being fun and entertaining..
This is one of those movies where the concept is so good that people forget you need to write a decent story to back it up.Edward Norton is badly miscast as the lead character.
On the other hand, its easy to see why and Robin Williams is in this movie, playing a very familiar character (a lifelike Genie), but he never comes close to anything VERY funny.
Well, maybe it isn't, but Danny DeVito sure thinks it is in his darkly comic film Death to Smoochy.
It is about an idealistic purple rhino named Smoochy, created by Sheldon Mopes (Edward Norton) who replaces another star, Rainbow Randolph (Robin Williams) after Randolph gets busted for a bribery scandal.
It gets too ridiculous to enjoy by the end, losing the clever satire and falling to mindless comedy.But Death to Smoochy isn't all bad.
We are delivered the comedic stylings of everyone from Williams, to DeVito himself, and even Jon Stewart who I won't call a great actor but as a huge fan of The Daily Show I couldn't help but enjoy seeing him in this movie.
Danny DeVito scores again with DEATH TO SMOOCHY, a very dark comedy about a fired children's TV show host (Robin Williams) who is out to get his replacement (Ed Norton).
The writing is top notch with some very witty, dark, wry humor.Edward Norton is so believable as Smoochy, Robin Williams is perfect as the embittered deposed kid's show host.
Catherine Keener plays her standard role even better than usual.Jon Stewart has a smaller role and is, as would be expected, darkly funny.It starts a little slow, but I knew where it was headed soon after, with a deadbeat, quite funny dry response from Kenner to Norton when he assumes the worst about her character because of her coming to meet him in the place where he was then performing.I'm going to track it down on DVD, I think I want to own this one.
Robin Williams excel's as Rainbow Randolph, Ed Norton fits the Sheldon Mopes character to perfection and all the supporting cast are excellent.
I don't remember ever seeing it playing at the cinema.Robin Williams, Edward Norton and Danny Devito??
Ed Norton, a rehab motivational guitar playing nice guy, gets his job as the Smoochy character, and Robin Williams wants revenge.
It is about a vindictive former children show star, Rainbow Randolph (played by Robin Williams) who seeks revenge on Smoochy, the new star who replaced his time slot on the network TV.
Smoochy (played by Edward Norton) is a gullible person unfamiliar with the way of running children's TV.There are tons of hilarious situations throughout the entire movie, and they are well-played by the acting talents, and also accompanied by funny dialogue.
I especially love how Rainbow Randolph's appearance becomes more and more ravaged throughout the time."Death to Smoochy" is, in my opinion, one of Robin Williams best movies.There is an impressive ensemble of talents in this fine comedy, and people deliver where it counts.If you are not already familiar with "Death to Smoochy", then it is a movie well-worth sitting down to watch.
As Smoochy catapults to fame - scoring hit ratings and the affections of a jaded network executive Randolph makes the unsuspecting rhino the target of his numerous outrageous attempts to exact revenge and reclaim his status as America's sweetheart.The good things about this movie: The movie is a dark comedy and to me that worked, because when you got a story about Robin Williams trying to kill or ruin a kid friendly pink rhino called Smoochy, you really can't take that seriously and the movie is aware of that and takes it like a joke.
Edward Norton and Robin Williams both did great in this movie.
although to begin with i wasn't interested because of the whole children's television aspect, i was patient with this movie because of Edward Norton who once again delivered a superb performance of a sweet and innocent, save the world type character.
STAR RATING:*****Unmissable****Very Good***Okay**You Could Go Out For A Meal Instead*Avoid At All CostsSet in the (no doubt) cutthroat world of children's television,this is the tale of 'Rainbow' Randolph (Robin Williams),the nation's (America) favourite kids TV entertainer.....until he is busted by the FBI for taking payola.He subsequently loses his job,and discovers he is to be replaced.Hard faced network executive Nora Wells (Catherine Keener) is assigned the task of finding said replacement,and eventually discovers it in the shape of Sheldon Mopes (Edward Norton,in a seemingly permanent mime-like facial expression throughout) a kindly,well to do man who later comes to be known as Smoochy the Rhino.Smoochy is pretty much an overnight success,much to the anger and bitterness of the dejected Randolph,who plots numourous ways to exact his petty revenge fantasies.As his success continues to grow,however,Sheldon finds himself forced to reveal his principles and ideals as the unfeeling Nora tries to force him to endorse crass,tacky Smoochy merchandising and product brands.In his disillusionment,Sheldon finds himself drawn to the lure of Burke Bennitt (Danny De Vito,also directing) a rival exec who can seemingly guide him in a more positive light.But,as his success continues to grow and grow,everyone soon seems to want in on his act and,in the bewildering disarray that follows,his friends and enemies emerge as not all they seem.This is a film that's been held back for so long now I became almost certain it was going to go straight to video.Quite why,I didn't know.Sure,De Vito has been on a downward career trajectory lately (directing wise,anyway) with the likes of What's the Worst That Could Happen?
on his CV,but with an A list cast like that?!?What are the odds?Alas,a disappointing Stateside box office performance is probably not the reason for Death to Smoochy's so far none-existent UK release,as much as it's due to the dissolvement of UK based film company Film Four.However,having seen the film,I really can't say that if I was the man in charge of such decisions,I wouldn't have sent it STV on account of it's quality.This is a dreary,meandering and,worst of all,rarely funny tale with no soild foundational core.The plot is incoherent,and really lacks any sort of substance at all.The characters are totally inconsistent,and,probably on account of the the hazily written script,are never featured at the right intervals or disappear for long stretches of time to prevent any of them (probably with the exception of Smoochy) from having the lasting impact that they might have had.There are also some rather tasteless moments.Shameless indecent exposure to children is something no one is ever probably going to accept,let alone find funny.Neither will Nazi worship by a lot of people.Norton,being the extremely talented actor he is,adapts to his comedy role very well and is able to play off quite impressively with Williams,the master of the manic.Doing his wild,whacky impressions and zany prancing,he is as much a joy to watch as ever.Another good point might be that some of the soundtrack is pretty memorable.Despite this,however,Williams fails to blend his standard wild mugging in with his new found serious actor path,De Vito fails to guide his moving train with any cohision and,despite the irrisistible cast line up,if in the (unlikely!?) event this never washes up on these shores well,to be honest,you've missed much of a lot of nothing.**.
I don't think there was a part to the movie I did not laugh at, and Robin Williams nailed his role as Rainbow Randolph.
Director Danny DeVito uncovers the soft underbelly of children's television in this dark comedy starring Edward Norton and a manic Robin Williams.
Danny DeVito was depressed by the poor reception this film got, but eventually he will have the last laugh; like Used Cars, another forgotten gem, it is a comedy satire that will stand the test of time.
The painfully earnest Sheldon Mopes, played by Ed Norton, and his kiddy Rhino act hits the big time when Rainbow Randolph, in one of Robin Williams' best performances, implodes.
However, this movie is one of DeVito's better works, not necessarily due to his directing but because of actors who play the three main characters (Ed Norton, Robin Williams, Catherine Keener).The movie revolves around a children's show on a network named KidNet.
`Rainbow Randolph' (Robin Williams) plays the main character on the TV show and is the adulated star.until he gets caught accepting bribes from parents who want to ensure better placement of their child/actors on the stage.Randolph is quickly fired and Frank Stokes (Jon Stewart), the producer of the show, is directed by the corporate heads to find a replacement whose ethics is beyond reproach.
Seeing that Robin Williams and Ed Norton are the main stars i hoped Smoochy would be a good film, and i was not at all disappointed.
the apparent "Comedies of the year" and "hilariously funny films" and have barely cracked a smile, not to say i have no sense of humour, it's just too much hype, and terrible scripts, but Smoochy had me in hysterics, from start to finish, brilliant movie, danny de-vito should be extremely proud of this effort, it might not be the critical/financial hit it deserves to be, but Smoochy is probably the best american film i have ever seen!Remember: friends come in all sizes!.
I dislike Robin Williams SO much in family-appropriate movies, so when he plays "Adult" roles, I watch with relief and am not often disappointed.Some of the musical numbers performed on the Smoochy songs were brilliant.The Irish Mob tie-in was completely unnecessary, but at the same time was humorous.Comedies cant come much darker, and not everything in this movie worked.
Ed Norton did a fantastic job acting like you would expect a kids show actor to be and Robin Williams plays the complete opposite.
Rainbow Randolph (Robin Williams), a children's show host, is arrested for taking bribes, and spends the whole movie trying to get revenge on his replacement, a way-too-perky guy in a Rhino suit named Sheldon Mopes (Edward Norton).
Abominable comedy from Danny DeVito about a children's show host (Robin Williams) who seeks revenge on his Barney-like replacement (Ed Norton).DeVito's The War of the Roses was a marvelous dark comedy with outstanding performances from Kathleen Turner and Micheal Douglas; Death to Smoochy is a pathetic excuse for a movie with two good actors who cannot do comedy (Catherine Keener and Norton) simply because they're not funny.
Robin Williams' Rainbow Randolph is so savagely funny even when he falls out of character at the end.
Ed Norton is funny as the ethical Smoochy and Robin Williams is in his element as the not so ethical Rainbow Randolph.