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Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed movies.
Death to Smoochy
Generally unfavorable reviews
Based on 30 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 27 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy
Written by: Adam Resnick
Directed by: Danny DeVito
Release Date:
Theatrical: March 29, 2002
DVD: September 17, 2002
Running Time: 108 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for language and sexual references
Starring Robin Williams, Edward Norton, Danny DeVito, Jon Stewart, Catherine Keener, Harvey Fierstein, Pam Ferris, and Michael Rispoli
A dark comedy set in the dog-eat-dog world of children's television programming.
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Duplex Hoffa The War of the Roses
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt
If you're in the mood for razor-sharp satire, this is the most refreshingly outrageous movie of the season.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
The spectacle is nothing short of refreshing.
Read Full Review >Village Voice J. Hoberman
Death to Smoochy is often very funny, but what's even more remarkable is the integrity of DeVito's misanthropic vision.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
It's good -- no, great -- to see Williams as a mean rat bastard.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
In general, parodies may not rely overmuch on plot, but they need more in this department than Death to Smoochy possesses.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Jack Mathews
Plays like a long TV sketch, but with an array of characters, themes, subplots and situations just clever enough to keep it moving, and to give cover to its underlying cynicism.
New Times (L.A.) Gregory Weinkauf
Resnick has crafted an ambitious, if extremely uneven, character study.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
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.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
So off-the-wall that it may well ultimately acquire the cult status of Resnick's earlier Chris Elliot vehicle, "Cabin Boy."
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Loren King
The script boasts some tart TV-insider humor, but the film has not a trace of humanity or empathy.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
Pushes its dark, smart, clever, cynical, satirical, nasty, provocative and sarcastic instincts to the point of heavily diminished returns -- to the point where the very amusing premise just isn't funny anymore.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey
Sporadically funny, twisted for sure, it risks becoming as repetitive and shrill as the kinds of programs it satirizes.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
Smoochy, like the cuddly character, tries to be loved and ends on an unrealistically upbeat note. But it's in better, wittier form just being vicious and biting.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer William Arnold
DeVito definitely has a gift for absurd black humor that kicks in here and there, but Adam Resnick's script is slavishly mean-spirited.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington
A dark comedy that blows up like an exploding cigar, leaving nothing much behind but smoke, noise and a bad taste.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly John Powers
A broad, braying yuk fest that revels in coarse jokes, lacks the courage of its own cynicism (things keep wavering into sentimentality) and refuses to develop its own premise.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone Peter Travers
This black-comic assault on family entertainment is going to set a lot of teeth on edge -- If only his (De Vito's) material were better this time.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Williams, going full throttle as the desperate deposed kiddie icon Rainbow Ralph, is, well, simply exhausting.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Tells a moldy-oldie, not-nearly-as-nasty-as-it-thinks-it-is joke. Over and over again.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
All noise with very little fun, and almost no restraint.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
An aggressive black comedy that seeks to satisfy a bloodlust already quelled many times over.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan
It's so over the top, the top isn't even visible in the rear-view mirror.
Read Full Review >Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow
To call Death to Smoochy satire -- or parody, burlesque, or even lampoon -- would be too generous. The moviemakers merely glide on the thin ice of yesterday's cynicism.
Slate David Edelstein
DiVito turns actors like Robin Williams, Edward Norton, and Catherine Keener into nothing less horrific than giant Danny DeVitos.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Alex Nohe
It is impossible to say whether the premise or its execution is more fatal in "Death to Smoochy." One would expect something greater out of the talents assembled.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
There are a few laughs, but I'm not sure that a comedy is supposed to make you recoil, which is what "Smoochy" does.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
To make a film this awful, you have to have enormous ambition and confidence, and dream big dreams.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 6.2 (out of 10) based on 27 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Jacob R. gave it a10:
This movie is hilarious and clever. I could watch it over and over again.
Byron L gave it a10:
One of the best comedies ever. Dark and crazy. A definite must see.
Mike M gave it a1:
If anything was good about this movie, it was the drunken boxer, and the sex scene that we don't see right before the boxer dies.
Will S. gave it a 9:
This movie will outlast its critics and detractors. It's packed full of laugh-out-loud lines and strikes a balance between a heartfelt message and a wickedly funny storyline.
Yoon Min C. gave it a 1:
It's always good to see norton and devito. however, this is even more obnoxious and retarded than the obnoxious and retarded things it's parodying.
Pat C. gave it a 2:
More proof of what's already common knowledge. No matter how clever a film's premise can be, a way will be found by those distrustful of their own instincts to trivialize the film's conclusion into oblivion. I score it worse than it is, as it's way worse than it had to be.
A Movie Critic gave it an 8:
It was funny. Hilariously funny. But when it wasn't, it had a cool plot, and a surprising-yet still not too surprising- ending. Definitely recommend this movie.
