256. Listener Request | DEATH TO SMOOCHY (2002) dir. Danny DeVito

Finally making my way through the backlog by fulfilling a long-awaited (putting it lightly) listener request! This one comes from critic Danielle Ryan who gave me their all-time favorite movie: Danny DeVito's DEATH TO SMOOCHY.The film stars Robin Williams as a daytime children's show host named Rainbow Randolph who's pinched by the FBI for accepting briberies from parents to give their kids special treatment while in the studio audience. The network responds to the scandal by canning Rainbow and hunting for the squeakiest and cleanest replacement possible.Enter Edward Norton as Smoochy the Rhino, a folk-song-playing guy in a purple rhino costume whose catalogue features songs about eating one's vegetables and practicing patience regarding one's douchebag stepdad. This guy was preaching the values of all organic, vegan and high protein diets more than a decade before influencer and social media marketing.Smoochy then finds himself in a whirlwind of opinions: the vice president of development (Catherine Keener) sees him as a glorified stand-in; his manager (Danny DeVito) can't wait to prop his star power in order to receive his cut; a mob boss using a nonprofit as a front wants Smoochy's participation in their grandest event. Did I forget the increasingly unhinged and jealous Rainbow wants Smoochy's foam head on a pike?This movie's fucking insane, as though Tim Burton directed a version of Dick Tracy by way of NETWORK. However, this screenplay, penned by David Letterman writer Adam Resnick, is so sharply written, so full of character, dark satire and geniune heart, that I find myself wholeheartedly embracing this stylistic hodge-podge.Williams is delightfully deranged but I think Norton comes out the film's MVP. Taking a guy known for angry, darker roles in films such as FIGHT CLUB and AMERICAN HISTORY X and having him flex the opposite side of his moral range, despite being given a wealth of justification to tell these people to fuck themselves...and having me believe this expression of goodness and forgiveness? It's a stellar feat. I honestly think it's my favorite Norton performance.This movie made me grin from ear to ear, laughing my ass off along the way. It's an unfairly maligned gem.---DEATH TO SMOOCHY is available to watch for free on Tubi, amigos!Follow Danielle Ryan's writing on SlashFilmFollow The Movies on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ & ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Throw a couple dollars in the ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠tip jar!⁠