Death to Smoochy

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.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

The spectacle is nothing short of refreshing.

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.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

It's good -- no, great -- to see Williams as a mean rat bastard.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

In general, parodies may not rely overmuch on plot, but they need more in this department than Death to Smoochy possesses.

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.

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.

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."

Boston Globe Loren King

The script boasts some tart TV-insider humor, but the film has not a trace of humanity or empathy.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea

Williams, going full throttle as the desperate deposed kiddie icon Rainbow Ralph, is, well, simply exhausting.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Death to Smoochy? Yes, please.

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Tells a moldy-oldie, not-nearly-as-nasty-as-it-thinks-it-is joke. Over and over again.

Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek

All noise with very little fun, and almost no restraint.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

A misfire of spectacular proportions.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

An aggressive black comedy that seeks to satisfy a bloodlust already quelled many times over.

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

It's so over the top, the top isn't even visible in the rear-view mirror.

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.

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.

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.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

To make a film this awful, you have to have enormous ambition and confidence, and dream big dreams.

Chicago Reader Hank Sartin

It's hard to pinpoint where things go wrong.