There's something undeniable funny about watching Robin Williams, star of recent sap-fests like Bicentennial Man and Patch Adams, swearing like a sailor and losing his mind.
There's something incredibly giddy about seeing Edward Norton, who has built his credibility on playing mentally unstable madmen, play an utter sweetheart in a Rhino costume, singing songs with lyrics like "My stepdad's not mean, he's just adjusting."
Add Jon Stewart, the Irish Mafia, dancing midgets, angry mobs, and products like Smoochy Cola ("With not just one, but two addictive ingredients!") and you have a pretty darned funny movie. It falters at times - whenever it tries to get serious or when Danny DeVito tries too hard as a director and co-star - but it's nevertheless a worthwhile trip to the movies.
The movie's ads are a bit misleading: the target of satire is not Barney, but children's television in itself (and the mental psychosis it breeds.) And while people do intend to put Smoochy in the ground, it's not annoyance but jealousy that drives their desire to bludgeon the poor rhino. The results are surprisingly funny, considering Barney's time has come and gone.
Rainbow Randolph (Williams) is Kidnet's number one star. Rainbow Randolph is also crazy, and even bullies parents into paying to let their kids on his show. He is busted, and the network quickly scrambles to find a replacement. They find him in a Free Clinic on Coney Island, singing to drug addicts, "We're going to get you off the smack today, oh yes we can..." He is Sheldon Mopes (Norton), or Smoochy, the pink Rhino.
Things take off from there. Smoochy learns fame comes with pitfalls, as he gets steam rolled by network executives, roughed up by the Irish Mafia (don't ask) and threatened by the Parade of Hope foundation. "No one turns down the Ice Show!" they growl before throwing him out of a moving limo, Goodfellas-style. All Smoochy can say (and he says it a lot) is, "How do ya like that?" If he wasn't played by an actor as good as Norton, he'd get annoying, but here he grows on us, and his producer (Cathrrine Keener.)
Rainbow Randolph, on the other hand, completely loses his mind. Williams goes all out, screaming spastically and plotting the demise of the Rhino. In terms of his performance, Randolph falls flat. He is pretty much a one-note character, and he's not so much a person as a walking cartoon. That doesn't mean he's not funny, because he is. After seeing Williams play the nice guy in so many movies, seeing him go nuts is consistently hilarious. It's a one-joke concept, but a surprisingly funny joke. And balanced against Norton's constant nice guy act, it works beautifully.
There are plenty of twists and turns in the film, and many jokes that elicit nice big belly laughs akin to those of Something About Mary. There are also some dead spots, some awkward moments, and Danny DeVito manages to flub every scene he's in. Someone should take him aside and say, "Direct, act, pick one." The film also ends strangely, as if the writer couldn't figure out how the bizarre Nickelodeon-esque opera should end. But that doesn't draw away from one important fact: they didn't screw it up.
Robin Williams is funny, Edward Norton is funny, the movie is funny. Black comedy is a fine line, and this film plays it well. Just watch out for the Irish Mafia.
