Death to Smoochy

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Death to Smoochy
(Widescreen Edition)
Distributed by
Warner Home Video

    Cover

  • Cert: R
  • Cat.no: 22485
  • Running time: 109 minutes
  • Year: 2002
  • Pressing: 2002
  • Region(s): 1, NTSC
  • Chapters: 30
  • Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
  • Languages: English, French
  • Subtitles: English, French, Spanish
  • Widescreen: 1.85:1
  • 16:9-Enhanced: Yes
  • Macrovision: No
  • Disc Format: DVD 9
  • Price: $26.98
  • Extras:Deleted Scenes, Audio Commentary, Art Galleries,Behind-the-Scenes documentary, Interactive Ice Show, TheatricalTrailers, Bloopers and Outtakes.

    Director:

      Danny DeVito

Screenplay:

    Adam Resnick

Cast:

    Rainbow Randolph: Robin Williams
    Sheldon Mopes/Smoochy: Edward Norton
    Burke: Danny DeVito
    Nora: Catherine Keener
    Stokes: Jon Stewart

What is it with Warner lately?You’ve got to be feeling a little pittyfor them after their string of high budget flops. Death to Smoochy,Adventures of Pluto Nash,Battlefield: Earth and the very recentBallistic: Ecks vs. Sever (which, upon seeing, you can tell why it waspostponed for a year). But for each of these there is aScooby Doothat I’m not mentioning. It’s not that Warner is hard up for money oranything like MGM but all three of those up there were around $90 millioneach (Ecks was $70m with $20m added in for marketing) and they have to takea hit somewhere.

With that said, the critics hated Death to Smoochy so much that you mayhave been wavered away from it. And I have to agree, it’s not a moviebest viewed in theaters. But rather, it’s a movie that can be fullyappreciated at home without noisy idiots around you and such. You’re notgoing to find gold here but look hard enough and you may pick up on thevibe the Smoochy has emanating.

Death to Smoochy seems like a simple plot. The kids showbiz is reallyjust full of a bunch of money greedy bastards, When kid show hostRainbow Randolph (Robin Williams) is caught in a bribery scandal, hisshow falls down around him. The show’s owner, KidNet needs a new mascotso they choose a cheesy stuffed rhino named Smoochy (played by EdwardNorton). Smoochy believes in making kids laugh and refuses to see thedark side of the biz.

Meanwhile, old Rainbow Randolph isn’t all rainbows and sunshine aboutthis rhino taking his place atop the kiddy kingdom. He devises a seriesof ill-fated plots to thwart Smoochy. But Randolph isn’t the only onewho wants death to Smoochy. An executive at KidNet thinks Sheldon Mopes(Smoochy) is getting to big for his britches and sees money in hisdeath. Now Sheldon must cope with the real side of the biz and how tokeep it clean while avoiding Randolph and others who want to do him in.

The real highlight here is Robin Williams. His scenes are, for somereason, hilarious. I love the scene in the flick where he gets on thephone with Sheldon and tells him he’s going on safari (“I’m going on asafari rhino, safaaaari!”) and numerous others. I’ve always enjoyedWilliams’ presense on screen and this is one of his best (ranks up therewith his portrayal of Psy the Photo Guy from One Hour Photo). The flickitself gets old quick but there is enough dark comedy to keep it quirky.Robin Williams’ performance saves this movie from the average rating ofa 2½

From now on, I’m not even going to mention how Warner is releasing twoversions of the film in widescreen and full-frame. The studio has lostit’s gaul and puts out “consumer friendly” full-frame versions for alltheir movies alongside their widescreen counterparts. They’ve joinedUniversal with this one. If people do not like widescreen they shouldstick to VHS. I know I should be happy that we even still getwidescreen films but full frame on DVD makes it lose it’s value.(“16:9 is catching on in the UK since even Labour-lovers BBC1 show filmsin that ratio on analogue TV at any time of day” – DVDfever.co.uk Ed)

Anyway, Death to Smoochy is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen.The transfer is unique because of its bright color pallette. Bright yetmuted colors give the film a nice clean look and conveys the premise ofthe plot. Blacks are deep and fleshtones are accurate but sometimesminor pixelization and edge enhancement is noticed. Overall, this is adecent transfer from Warner.

The audio is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and this was a welcomesuprise. The track is suprisingly effective and loud for a movie prettymuch occupied by dialouge.

The extras are pretty good for a movie that tanked but this is a case ofquantity over quality. Here’s how it stacks up:

  • Audio Commentary:Features director and co-star Danny DeVito and thecinematographer. I would have loved to hear Robin Williams on thistrack.
  • Behind the Scenes Documentary:This is full of clips of behind the scenes moments and is set to music. Shownin non-anamorphic 1.85:1 and runs for only 7 minutes.
  • Additional Scenes:10 additional scenes are located here and most arejust little snippets cut from the movie. Non-anamorphic and only runsfor little over 6 minues.
  • Bloopers and Outtakes:You’re probably getting tired of me saying thisbut Robin Williams is the main highlight of this average reel. Runs 4minutes an 28 seconds and is non-anamorphic.
  • Interactive Ice Show:What was this? This is a worthless supplementinvolving re-editing or something. Ignorant.
  • Trailers:Three trailers are shown here. The theatrical trailer is theonly one interesting, the others look like teasers. All are shown inanamoprhic 1.85:1 widescreen.
  • Magic Cookie Bag:Several still galeries featuring behind-the-sceneslooks, sketches, and more. Interesting to see these here on a movie likethis.
  • Cast & Crew:Glad to see these still here, makes my job of writingdown the characters/actors easier!

So what we get total is a little over 20 minutes of video supplement.Bad, huh?

Death to Smoochy is broken up into 30 chapters and is packaged in Warner’sawful trademark cardboard snapper cases (related studio New Line droppedthem, why can’t you?) with the banner: Widescreen Edition above them.Normally Warner only puts seperate versions out for 2.35:1 films, AKA”big black bars” but I guess people are complaining about the “littleblack bars” of 1.85:1 now. Pathetic!

Overall, if you like dark satire then you’ll find a good time in Deathto Smoochy like I did. However, be advised that this is not everyone’scup of tea. A decent DVD of an average movie doesn’t outway the offeringof only 20 minutes of video supplements to justify a purchase. A solidrent though.

FILM CONTENT
PICTURE QUALITY
SOUND QUALITY
EXTRAS


OVERALL
Review copyright © Traveta, 2002.

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