Rating- * * (2/5)
Before you start reading this review, I should make you aware of a few prejudices I have that work against this movie to begin with. One is that I am not particularly fond of dark comedies. It’s not that I don’t enjoy dark humor; certainly some of my favorite movies of all time are filled with dark humor (Double Indemnity, Fargo). It’s really just that most movies that market themselves as dark comedies aren’t very good. They are usually trying to appeal to the intellectual audience because they know that the average audience won’t get the humor. I also don’t like Robin Williams very much. “How can you not like Robin Williams, the comic genius of our time?!?!” you may be screaming. Firstly, while I do find a lot of his humor funny, I’m not sure how much of it is talent and how much is him actually being somewhat insane in real life. Secondly, since Mrs. Doubtfire, his work has gone consistently downhill (don’t even try to tell me that Patch Adams didn’t suck). So with those two things in mind, I went into Smoochy a little skeptical to say the least. However, I don’t think all the enthusiasm in the world could have saved it anyway. The concept seems like it could work; Robin Williams plays a disgruntled ex-kiddy show star who has been replaced by a Barney-like, moral-preaching Rhinoceros named, you guessed it, Smoochy, played by Ed Norton. Norton gets money, power, and Williams’ girl, which drives Williams to go on a rampage and attempt to kill the Rhino. At the same time, a charity/Mafia is also trying to whack the Rhino for refusing to do an ice show that would pull in millions. The story gets so convoluted and the bad guys switch places so many times that you would think you were watching a first-class crime movie. Clearly, you would be mistaken. My only explanation for how this plot got so goofy is that perhaps the writing team kept forgetting what the story was about. In terms of comedy, it’s average at best. My favorite scenes involved the former-boxer who has clearly taken one too many shots to the head. While the movie does provide some good laughs, it’s ultimately not a dark comedy at all. The good guy is good, the bad guys are bad, and in the end, the good guy wins. That is not a dark comedy. Ultimately, Death to Smoochy has potential and was clearly made with a lot of talent, but it lacks enormously in originality, intelligence, and effort. This one is a renter, at best.