FLOP CULTURE

DEATH TO SMOOCHY

In 2002, Danny DeVito’s scabrous satire of children’s TV show hosts died at the box office. Was it just too bilious for viewers? Why it was a good idea (on paper)

Robin Williams called it “Reservoir Rhino” and “Tarantino meets Mister Rogers”. Director Danny DeVito relished the chance to direct his old mate in a scabrous comedy. With acid writer Adam Resnick and co-stars Ed Norton and Catherine Keener bringing black-comedy previous, Death To Smoochy seemed a perfect pivot for Williams’ spin to the dark side.

What went wrong?

Resnick dubbed it the Serpico of children’s TV comedies; alternatively, think Justin’s House hijacked by Fight Club. Either way, Smoochy died with critics and audiences, whose cool response to the tale of revenge between a disgraced children’s star and his earnest, rhino-suited replacement helped deck a struggling studio. DeVito’s comedy emerged from FilmFour’s financing agreement with Warner Bros, which had already suffered Charlotte Gray. Lucky Break – the dull Monty – had hardly helped. After FilmFour’s $5m investment, Smoochy kicked the company when it was down: released to an audience blindsided by its cynicism and wild-card Williams lead, the film suffered dismal US reviews and sales. When the UK release was cancelled and FilmFour closed, Smoochy was not solely to blame – but it became an emblem of the fall. Did Channel 4 execs really dub it “Death to FilmFour” during production? If so, nailed it.

Redeeming feature

Between Norton’s deadpan do-gooder, Williams’ deranged dance, Resnick’s spiky one-liners and Keener’s hilarious ex“kiddie-host groupie”, Resnick and DeVito went for bad-taste broke. If the results are messy, the singalong melodies take up some slack: altogether now, “Oh, we’ll get you off that smack…”.

What happened next?

DeVito lost traction as a studio director afterwards, Williams endured an undeserved Razzie nom and C4 clipped its film wing. Cult-ish interest later developed, though not enough to birth a market in ‘rocket’-shaped (“It’s a cock!”) cookies.

Should it be remade?

Between its irreplaceable lead and WTF value, Smoochy is one of a kind: a cracked curio too odd to be duplicated.