Review – Death to Smoochy

Though this Danny DeVito production isn’t quite as clever as it wants to be, it’s still an entertaining way to spend a couple of hours. Edward Norton plays a do-gooding, guitar-strumming crusader in a pink rhino suit who gets hired by a kid-oriented TV network to host a Barney-ish variety show (wow, is that enough hyphens in one sentence?). Though the execs hire him specifically because he lacks the legal, ethical and moral woes of his predecessor (Robin Williams), our hero’s efforts to do the right thing at every turn soon put him at odds with the money men and a Mafia-esque charitable organization. With the mob and the disgruntled ex-host trying to do him in, our hero muddles on to save the day and get the girl. Clever allusions to other classic movies include the distinct flavor of Comfort and Joy in a couple of scenes and a sequence toward the end that must be a conscious tribute to The Manchurian Candidate. The only drawback here is that sometimes the film-makers strive so hard for quirkiness and irony that all they end up with is silliness. However, such moments are relatively few and concentrated mostly toward the end. Worth seeing