4/4/02
So what to say about a movie about people trying to off a guy in a giant purple plush rhino suit? No matter how the movie turned out, this movie got huge points for concept in my book. After seeing it, I say they did a pretty good job. The opening scene with the Rainbow Randolph show intro is absolutely terrifying (this is a good thing). The rapid fire series of scenes showing Randolph's fall from the spotlight, go a little to fast and just felt off. Once Randolph starts to take vengeance on Sheldon Mopes(Smoochy) it starts to pick up, especially with a scene where Randolph tricks Mopes into performing at a Nazi convention ("Hail Smoochy!"). The movie felt a little uneven, but the jokes are so good you hardly notice.
I think the casting was great, Edward Norton did really well as Sheldon Mopes/Smoochy, playing innocent to all the corruption around him. Robin Williams was great, as always, getting more and more insane as the movie goes on (It doesn't hurt that one of the recurring gags is to see how many times he can get hit in the head). The supporting cast was good, I really liked Catherine Keener in the roll of a TV exec with a fetish for children show hosts. Also, it was really amusing to see Harvey Fierstein as a gangster. One downside was Jon Stewart who seemed fairly uncomfortable playing a more or less straight man role. Since I enjoyed the script and the acting so much, I'm willing to blame the faults on Danny DeVito's directing (I have to blame something).
LinksImages courtesy of The Internet Movie Database.