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Death to Smoochy

Death to Smoochy on DVD

Rainbow Randolph is the country’s most beloved entertainer. He’s had a lock on the afternoon TV ratings for who-knows-how-long, and everybody absolutely adores him.

That is, until he’s arrested. Then he’s fired, he becomes the country’s biggest tabloid headline, and his TV slot is given to a giant purple rhino. It’s enough to make a man go insane.

Robin Williams plays Rainbow Randolph, the former TV star. His one goal in life is now the elimination of Smoochy (Edward Norton). He’ll do whatever it takes to do the deed and get back his old spot on the telly. Randolph does everything he can, whether it be tricking Smoochy into becoming a tabloid headline of his own, or just keeping it simple by trying to kill him.

Death to Smoochy is easily the most twisted comedy of the year. Most of the humor is very dark, and the rest is making fun of someone or something. However, in many cases, those are the best kind. Danny Devito seems to direct that kind of movie, so Death to Smoochy seems to fit in on his resume.

Robin Williams and Edward Norton are fabulous in the lead roles. Williams is appropriately dark and nasty, taking his schtick to a whole new level. Norton appears to have a great time playing the good-natured children’s entertainer. And Devito plays the same character he plays in every movie – but we guess that’s okay, he seems to have fun.

Death to Smoochy is not the kind of movie everyone will enjoy. If you have a dark, twisted sense of humor (for example, if you appreciated the humor in Fight Club or American Psycho), you’ll probably like Smoochy. If anything remotely controversial upsets you, you’d be well advised to skip this one.

The DVD is surprisingly impressive, despite this being one of the biggest bombs of the year. The video quality is very good, though unfortunately we were stuck with the Pan&Scan version as opposed to the separate widescreen version available. The picture is free of foreign objects, and the rich colors of the film are bright – but not too bright. There is a tiny bit of halo effect in a few places, but this is otherwise a very nice transfer. Even though it’s Pan&Scan.

Now is the time to mention something a lot of studios seem to be neglecting, even though it was very popular in the past: putting both versions of the movie on the same disc. It doesn’t even have to be on the same side (so that quality is not affected), but there are two sides to every DVD. If studios would go back to putting both versions together, people would not have to worry about which one they're picking up - because, let’s face it, it’s not always easy to tell which version is which.

The audio is good, but not great. Surround use is surprisingly limited, which is unfortunate since there is ample opportunity for it in this movie. There are plenty of sound effects, dialogue from offscreen characters, and even a few song-and-dance routines that could have used the surrounds brilliantly. But alas, it was not to be. Perhaps Warner did not want to spend too much on this DVD since it really didn’t make much in the theatre?

If that’s the case, we understand completely.

There are some interesting extras on the disc, beginning with some bloopers and outtakes. Many of them are just Robin Williams being Robin Williams (it makes us wonder if anyone ever charges him for all the film he wastes by doing his thing). There are ten additional scenes, none of which deserved to be in the movie (okay, there’s one, but we’ll let you decide which one), an audio commentary by Danny Devito (who states early on that “it’s now been several months since this movie was in theatres, so the mourning period is over”) and director of photography Anastas Michos, an interesting behind-the-scenes documentary, some still galleries, and the trailer.

Death to Smoochy, from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
109 minutes, 1.33:1 full frame, 5.1 Dolby Digital
Starring Robin Williams, Edward Norton, Danny Devito, Catherine Keener
Produced by Andrew Lazar and Peter MacGregor-Scott
Written by Adam Resnick
Directed by Danny Devito

 

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Updated May 13, 2006