I really wanted to like this film. From the moment I heard about it, there was a lot I liked about the idea. It was absurd, it was dark, and it was different. What I found, however, was that it tried too hard to be different, and in trying, it failed to become what it could have.
Essentially what we have is a comedy, dark at times, funny at times, but not quite one or the other. It's not a black comedy, because it's too ridiculous; the best black comedies are simply not funny, because they're too grotesquely real. Conversely, it's not quite a straight comedy because it just isn't witty enough; it relies too heavily on stereotypes and hyperbole for its humour. At times it seems to be a biting satire of children's television, but it fails in this respect too, because it doesn't have a firm enough grounding in reality. The best satire (call it "Swiftean", if you will) also shouldn't be funny, because it's too vivid a mirror for reality.
Death to Smoochy is too warped, you could say. It fails to really hit the highs of the peak it attempts to climb, because it takes it one step too far in every respect. Its humour relies on a farcical nature that is just too extreme to work every time. The character of Sheldon is overworked; likewise Rainbow Randolph. I mean, we've seen green-loving hippies before, it's nothing new, and so too have we seen Robin Williams in crazy ranting mode, and it's funnier when he's not such a clichéd 'psycho' character.
The film does, however, have its moments: For example, the zoom-out from the costumed Spinner's dead body to a chalk outline of a giant foam rhinoceros - that made me laugh for a twisted, absurdly poignant minute. That's the chord I feel the entire film was trying to hit, that - to clumsily continue the metaphor - 'diminished' chord. But moments like that that made me laugh - and I wouldn't want to deny that there were a few - were isolated. There wasn't a coherent enough flow to make these amusing moments string together into a funny, witty, truly memorable whole.
And I think it's basically just a lack of coherence that causes its downfall. IT doesn't even know what it's trying to do. Because the really tragic thing is, as I knew before I watched it, that there are so many good elements here. The cast is great, not just on paper but they all attack their roles with gusto (with the possibly notable exception of Jon Stewart, who I think is quite amusing in real life, but he's not a great actor). The concept behind the plot, if not necessarily the plot as it unfolds, is amusing and original. Danny De Vito directs with a stylistic hand, and he clearly enjoys what he's putting together here. All in all, it really could have been something more than it is.
But basically, funny though it is, it doesn't have enough to set it apart from other 'funny' films. It's different, certainly, but not in the way that Bringing Up Baby is different from, say, Cheaper by the Dozen (Not the greatest comparison I've ever devised, but I hope you get the general idea). In the end, I have to join that rather succinct mob who inadvertently inspired me to watch this film, and say "It's just weird".
Essentially what we have is a comedy, dark at times, funny at times, but not quite one or the other. It's not a black comedy, because it's too ridiculous; the best black comedies are simply not funny, because they're too grotesquely real. Conversely, it's not quite a straight comedy because it just isn't witty enough; it relies too heavily on stereotypes and hyperbole for its humour. At times it seems to be a biting satire of children's television, but it fails in this respect too, because it doesn't have a firm enough grounding in reality. The best satire (call it "Swiftean", if you will) also shouldn't be funny, because it's too vivid a mirror for reality.
Death to Smoochy is too warped, you could say. It fails to really hit the highs of the peak it attempts to climb, because it takes it one step too far in every respect. Its humour relies on a farcical nature that is just too extreme to work every time. The character of Sheldon is overworked; likewise Rainbow Randolph. I mean, we've seen green-loving hippies before, it's nothing new, and so too have we seen Robin Williams in crazy ranting mode, and it's funnier when he's not such a clichéd 'psycho' character.
The film does, however, have its moments: For example, the zoom-out from the costumed Spinner's dead body to a chalk outline of a giant foam rhinoceros - that made me laugh for a twisted, absurdly poignant minute. That's the chord I feel the entire film was trying to hit, that - to clumsily continue the metaphor - 'diminished' chord. But moments like that that made me laugh - and I wouldn't want to deny that there were a few - were isolated. There wasn't a coherent enough flow to make these amusing moments string together into a funny, witty, truly memorable whole.
And I think it's basically just a lack of coherence that causes its downfall. IT doesn't even know what it's trying to do. Because the really tragic thing is, as I knew before I watched it, that there are so many good elements here. The cast is great, not just on paper but they all attack their roles with gusto (with the possibly notable exception of Jon Stewart, who I think is quite amusing in real life, but he's not a great actor). The concept behind the plot, if not necessarily the plot as it unfolds, is amusing and original. Danny De Vito directs with a stylistic hand, and he clearly enjoys what he's putting together here. All in all, it really could have been something more than it is.
But basically, funny though it is, it doesn't have enough to set it apart from other 'funny' films. It's different, certainly, but not in the way that Bringing Up Baby is different from, say, Cheaper by the Dozen (Not the greatest comparison I've ever devised, but I hope you get the general idea). In the end, I have to join that rather succinct mob who inadvertently inspired me to watch this film, and say "It's just weird".