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The f. word is a funny word. It is funny
almost anytime you hear it in a movie, even in the most trying
circumstances. In comedies, it is pretty much always funny. And then
Robin Williams comes along and uses the f. word over and over and over
again. And for some reason, the f. word seems to lose its mystique.
Hearing the man who played Mrs. Doubtfire, Peter Pan, Patch Adams
swearing more than an Irish potato farmer was definitely an eye opener.
Out of all this swearing comes the movie Death to Smoochy. It is a movie
about a disgruntled children's show host, Rainbow Randy (Williams) who
loses his show to a giant purple rhinoceros named Smoochy (Edward
Norton) and sets out to plot revenge against his nemesis.
I have heard that Death to Smoochy is considered a dark comedy, a genre
I have never been too fond of. I'm not too sure why, but I have never
found dark comedies to be terribly funny. Unfortunately, for me, Death
to Smoochy falls into this category - not terribly funny. The first 1/3
of the movie is almost not funny at all. I looked around the crowd in
the theatre I was in and it was eerily quiet during this time.
Although the movie does pick up and there are parts where Robin WIlliams
is genuinely funny, even with all of his gratuitous swearing, I must say
that, overall, Death to Smoochy is somewhat disappointing. Sure there
are parts of the movie that are entertaining and there is an Irish mafia
contingent in the movie that is really quite entertaining and Ed Norton
puts in his usual strong performance. But, in the end, Death to Smoochy
joins the long line of movies coming out with pairs of A-list
actors/actresses - De Niro/Murphy, Affleck/Jackson, Freeman/Judd,
Williams/Pacino and Williams/Norton that seem destined for failure.
(Actually, I shouldn't be jumping to conclusions quite yet, because I
have no clue about a few of those pairs, but the De Niro/Murphy
experiment certainly was a disappointment.)
Nevertheless, I am sure most people who see Death to Smoochy will have
similar comments - "It was okay", "It wasn't too
bad", "It wasn't as bad as I thought", "I've seen
worse". What I'm trying to say is, it is an okay movie. It is not
groundbreaking comedy by any means and it is not the worst movie
released this year. But it is definitely not up to the caliber of movie
that you would expect from a film starring Robin Williams and Ed Norton.
You figure that this dynamic pair would keep your eyes glued to the
screen.
Instead, I spent a good portion of the film trying to figure out if the
two people sitting in front of me were a man and a woman or two women. I
just couldn't figure it out. Well, as it turns out, they were two women.
But that just proves my point. Maybe if the pair on the screen were more
interesting, I wouldn't have been as concerned about the pair in front
of me (or the two pairs - however you look at it)!!
  
- 5.5/10
Brendan Cullin - Senior
Editor
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