MOVIE REVIEW

Taking on the cutthroat world of kids' TV, the film puts its strong ensemble cast in increasingly unbelievable situations.

By Kevin Thomas, Times Staff Writer

"Death to Smoochy" starts out as such a deliciously savage satire of TV kiddie shows that it's a shame it swerves out of control and over the top, sliding into tedium before pulling together for a clever, if protracted, finish.

If this sharp-looking, sharp-talking presentation is decidedly uneven, it nevertheless offers Edward Norton--in one of his typically highly focused portrayals that is a constant delight--as well as Robin Williams, Catherine Keener and Danny DeVito, who also directed Adam Resnick's knowing script.

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The film opens with a pow and then some. Out comes Williams' Rainbow Randolph in a white outfit and bowler and rainbow-striped sequined jacket. He's on a garish set crowded with ecstatic youngsters hearing him sing a reminder that "Friends Come in All Sizes," which segues into a pitch for Randolph merchandise, with the none-too-subtle hint that when it comes to sizes, the bigger (more costly) the item, the better. Randolph's fortunes abruptly reverse in a scandalously high-profile manner, and the Manhattan-based Kidnet is suddenly desperate to find a replacement with an ultra-clean image.

The network president (Jon Stewart) dispatches his tough, canny VP of development, Nora Wells (Keener), to sign up Sheldon Mopes (Norton), whom she finds dressed in his pink plush Smoochy the Rhino costume entertaining the dozing denizens of a Coney Island methadone clinic. Unenthusiastic doesn't begin to describe Nora's view of Smoochy, but she's under orders to sign Sheldon up.

As corny as Smoochy is, the kids do respond. Sheldon wants to tuck in a message to the children in all his material and insists that the merchandise bearing Smoochy's name must actually be good for them. Nora tells him to get lost--actually, her sentiments are more colorful and unprintable.

Although Sheldon is completely without irony, he is no wimp and is in fact likable in an aw-shucks way. He signs with notorious kiddie show talent agent Burke Bennett (DeVito), who thinks and acts like a mobster.

Meanwhile, Rainbow Randolph skulks around stoking a ferocious craving for revenge. Hulking in the wings is yet another dethroned kiddie star, Buggy Ding Dong (Vincent Schiavelli).

So far so good, but DeVito and Resnick, a TV veteran, blow their terrific setup by piling on the excesses and bringing in an awkward and unpersuasive subplot involving a punch-drunk prizefighter (Michael Rispoli), with whom Smoochy forms a mutual admiration society, and who is associated with a fierce but good-hearted Irish restaurateur (Pam Ferris) and her tough guys.

(Among the crowded population of craven characters is Harvey Fierstein as the thuggish head of a crooked charity that has always been endorsed by Rainbow Randolph.)

It would seem that at some point the filmmakers became convinced they could get away with anything, with the result that "Death to Smoochy" is overly complicated and overlong.

Consequently, as "Death to Smoochy" slides from the credibly outrageous to increasingly incredible knockabout crime farce, it allows viewer attention to wander before the movie regains focus and momentum.

In the process, the picture pounds away at how just about everybody is rotten to the core, with the possible exception of Sheldon, but it proves to be a predictable case of shameless schmaltz surfacing as the other side of the coin of its initial gleeful cynicism.

"Death to Smoochy" has appealing manic energy, especially in its performances, but it's too cumbersome for its send-'em-home-happy ending to seem well-deserved.

The result is that "Death to Smoochy" smacks of something of the sellouts it is ostensibly skewering.

*

MPAA rating: R, for language and sexual references. Times guidelines: The film is too cynical for small fry and the language far too strong.

'Death to Smoochy'

Robin Williams ... Rainbow Randolph

Edward Norton ... Sheldon Mopes/Smoochy the Rhino

Catherine Keener ... Nora Wells

Danny DeVito ... Burke Bennett

A Warner Bros. Pictures presentation in association with Filmfour and Senator Entertainment of a Mad Chance production. Director Danny DeVito. Producers Andrew Lazar and Peter Macgregor-Scott. Screenplay Adam Resnick. Cinematographer Anastas Michos. Editor Jon Poll. Music David Newman. Choreographer Barry Lather. Costumes Jane Ruhm. Production designer Howard Cummings. Art director Tamara Deverell. Key set designer Grant van der Slagt. Set decorator Enrico Campana. Running time: 1 hour, 50 minutes.

In general release.