Death to Smoochy

With Robin Williams’ untimely demise due to self-inflicted asphyxiation, naturally his name comes up as a topic for discussion.   He has too many movies out there – and several seasons of “Mork & Mindy” – to allow an exhaustive “tribute” via marathon viewing or even movie reviewing.  Rather than attempt the impossible, I picked one film to focus on.   At some later point I’ll watch stuff like “Good Will Hunting” which I never got around to watching before.

            Anyhow, RW plays Rainbow Randolph, a kiddie TV show host who abruptly loses his show after a sordid bribery scandal.  Along comes Sheldon Mopes (Edward Norton) as Smoochy, an annoyingly saccharine rhino, obviously based on Barney.  Mopes is hopelessly idealistic and truly clueless about life in general and show business in particular but takes over RR’s place, much to RR’s anger and resentment.  Jon Stewart plays the network executive, and Keener – Carell’s love interest in “40 Year Old Virgin” – is another network exec.  The Mob gets involved, things get violent and complicated, but always remain hilarious despite the often dark subject matter and body count.  This is a film which bathes in its cynicism but is so damn funny anyway.  There’s even a VERY oblique tie-in to “American History X”; see if you can catch it. 

            What I loved about this film is how Williams could be both funny and sleazy at the same time.  After a while all his “heartwarming” films get so damn tiresome and tedious, and also a bit self-serving.

Having reviewed this particular film, allow me to return to a basic tribute to Williams.

Mork & Mindy.  This was the show that started it for him.  The charmingly naïve and good-natured alien from Ork, lands in Boulder, Colorado of all places, and lives with Mindy (Pam Dawber).  The music store she works in is in downtown Boulder.  It seems Williams had a huge talent for improvisation, and the oddball character really let him bring it out.  Even Morgan Fairchild is hot.  This is a show I’ve never gotten tired of even after all these years.

Depression.   Gene Simmons clearly put his foot in his mouth.  Judging by his prompt retraction it seems someone gave him a basic primer in mental illness, preceded by a slap in the face and a kick in the ass, well deserved.  Fortunately, I’ve never been depressed, although I have been heavily discouraged in the past when life wasn’t going as well it could.  So when it comes to describing depression, I have to really stretch my imagination to try to ascertain what it’s all about. 

            Highly successful people, like Robin Williams, suffer from depression.  Not only are these people rich and famous, they also have ample resources such as therapists and professionals who can treat the problem, in theory.  Logic suggests that someone like Robin Williams would prefer not to feel suicidal 24/7 and would take whatever drug or therapy might be effective at making his daily life bearable.  Naturally, the rest of us who aren’t as rich and successful as Williams may shake our heads and wonder what the hell he has to be suicidal about.  That suggests to me that despite drugs and therapy, we haven’t quite reached the point where we can say we’ve succeeded at taming the depression demon. 

General Impressions.  I don’t know Williams personally and never met him.  Nor do I know anyone who has.  Like the general population I have to gauge his true off-screen personality by an aggregate of his movie roles – because no matter how great an actor you may be, some part of you always shines through in your acting.  Also he was politically active and did lots of charity work.  The latter often strikes me as insincere or intended for public relations purposes.  Was that the case with Williams?  Probably not.  God forbid any actor have any true compassion for those around him or the less fortunate.  My impression is that he was a genuinely nice guy and a lovable person, as flawed as he might have been.  This is why movies like “Death to Smoochy” are illuminating:  they allow the actor to channel his darker impulses into a role and act them out without killing anyone in real life: depravity by proxy.  I haven’t seen “One Hour Photo”, but I have seen “Insomnia”.   Williams strikes me as more weird and depraved than homicidal maniac, so “Death to Smoochy” may be the off-color movie which best illustrates the worst of Robin Williams, the actor.

Spielberg’s recent biopic on Lincoln, with Daniel Day Lewis as the famous President, gave a very different but entertaining depiction of the man.  In the process of trying to get the thirteenth Amendment ratified before the war ended, Lincoln had to do some somewhat unsavory political maneuvering behind the scenes.  Spielberg shows us that behind the folksy wit and wisdom we usually associate with Lincoln, was a very savvy political genius.  But even when the dust clears and we see him with all his flaws, he still comes off as a giant man, a hero. 

And this is what “Death to Smoochy” does for Robin Williams.  Rest in peace.  Mork calling Orson!