The movie carries the whiff of desperate effort. It strives to be outrageous -- one kiddie-show host solicits bribes, another gets beaten with lead pipes -- but some ingredient is missing: the humor. Edward Norton tries way too hard as the wide-eyed naif who plays Smoochy, a Barney clone who sings cheery songs about life's little difficulties, like "My Stepdad's Not Mean (He's Just Adjusting)" ("So be patient with new friends like Stan/It's tough to be Mom's second man") and "Smoochy's Methadone Song" ("Oh, we'll get you off that smack, oh yes we will") (the songs are the funniest part of the movie).
I'd say there should be some hideous punishment for whoever wastes such a promising premise and talent like Jon Stewart and Edward Norton, but I think everyone involved shares some blame. The actors are either visibly straining for comedy, like Edward Norton, or phoning it in, like Catherine Keener doing the same brittle ball-buster she played in Being John Malkovich. The story isn't very good, and the pacing is all wrong. At least one character is so profoundly irritating that you feel like cheering when he's savagely beaten. Whatever the opposite of inspiration is, this movie has it in droves.
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