REEL CRITICS -- John Depko and Ryan Gilmore

Keep your kids away from ‘Smoochy’

Danny DeVito’s “Death to Smoochy” is a strange dark comedy that

totally skewers the world of children’s television. It takes direct aim

at popular kiddie shows that feature animal characters. Surrogates for

Barney and Big Bird are placed squarely in DeVito’s wicked gun sights.

In this malicious satire, all the stars of the Kid TV Network are

foulmouthed drunks, drug addicts or crazy men whose vices lead to their

downfall. This R-rated movie is definitely not for youngsters.

Robin Williams is frenetic as the hate-filled Rainbow Randolph Smiley,

who ends up broke and homeless after being busted for taking bribes from

parents who want their kids to be on his show. Enter Ed Norton as a sappy

and idealistic entertainer for kids who is hired by the network to

replace Randolph and save their ratings.

Norton puts on a baggy pink costume and becomes Smoochy the Rhino, the

politically correct kid show host. DeVito plays the sleazy agent who

tries to take Smoochy down the tainted path of his previous clients.

Wild plot developments unfold at a frantic pace. There are dueling

gangs of mobsters, a collection of neo-Nazis, a brain-damaged prize

fighter, dwarfs and murders played for laughs. A bizarre mix of scenes

and characters that are occasionally very funny, but always peculiar.

Bad language and crude sight gags abound. Amusing but vulgar, the

target audience for this fare would appear to be teenage boys with short

attention spans.

As director and star of this effort, DeVito seems to be desperately

trying to recapture the zany atmosphere of his past hits: “The War of the

Roses” and “Throw Mama from the Train.” He is only partly successful.

o7 “Death to Smoochy” is rated R for language and sexual references.

f7 * JOHN DEPKO is a Costa Mesa resident and a senior investigator

for the Orange County public defender’s office.

‘Panic Room” pays off in suspense

“Panic Room,” the new film by director David Fincher, never lacks for

suspense. Fincher, whose previous work includes “Fight Club,” “The Game,”

and “Seven,” once again succeeds in making the audience anxious and

uncomfortable. In any other context, provoking such feelings would be

tantamount to complete failure, but in a suspense-thriller they are

necessary elements that are so often lacking in today’s predictable

formula films.

The film revolves around a room designed to be a fortress against home

invasion in an immense Manhattan townhouse. However, the audience learns,

along with the protagonists, that such a room can be easily transformed

from a sanctuary into a trap for its inhabitants.

Meg Altman, played by Jodie Foster, is recently divorced from her

millionaire husband and moves into the townhouse with her 11-year-old

daughter, Sarah. Unbeknownst to them, three men have set their sights on

a fortune that is hidden in the panic room.

These would-be thieves are initially thrown off by the fact that the

home is already inhabited, an unforeseen difficulty that their greed

convinces them they can overcome.

Junior (Jared Leto) is the grandson of the deceased former owner of

the townhouse, and he wants to retrieve the hidden money and avoid

sharing a penny with other heirs and the government in estate taxes.

Burnham (Forest Whitaker) is the security expert who designed the panic

room and needs the money to support his children and ex-wife. Dwight

Yoakam, the country singer, once again proves to be the guy you love to

hate. Yoakam played the villainous Doyle Hargraves in the film “Sling

Blade” and is a menacing sociopath known only as “Raoul” in “Panic Room.”

Jodie Foster once again delivers a stunning performance not unlike her

role as Special Agent Clarice Starling in “The Silence of the Lambs.” She

alternates between strength and vulnerability perfectly, thus keeping the

audience from lulling into a sense of security by believing that she is

an invulnerable action hero.

Overall, this film is a highly effective suspense-thriller. The only

disappointment that I perceived was the director’s overuse of special

effects shots in which the camera zoomed through walls, floors and even

key holes with the aid of computer graphics. I felt that these shots,

although trying to create a modified version of Hitchcock’s style, were

distracting and unnecessary.

It may be that Fincher did not have faith that today’s audience,

hooked on films shot in the instant gratification-style of music videos,

would be patient enough to wait for the old-fashioned suspense to kick

into gear.

But aside from these minor distractions, “Panic Room” really delivers

with an intense story line and fine performances by all the actors.

o7 “Panic Room” is rated R for violence and language.f7

* RYAN GILMORE is a Costa Mesa resident.