Death to Smoochy Starring Robin Williams, Edward Norton, and Catherine Keener. Directed by Danny DeVito. Written by Adam Resnick. Rated R.

All you need to know about Death to Smoochy is that it casts Harvey Fierstein as a vicious gangster. Actually, there's one other thing you should know. He gets his head chopped off.

Rainbow Randolph (Robin Williams) is a beloved host of a kids' tv show until he's discovered taking bribes from rich people to put their children on the show. The network promptly replaces him with a lovable purple rhino named Smoochy. Sheldon Mopes (Edward Norton), Smoochy's creator and portrayer, is picked because he's outrageously clean -- he's discovered singing songs for patients at a methadone clinic; he won't touch meat, refined sugar, or alcohol; and his musical repertoire includes a song called "My Stepdad's Not Mean (He's Just Adjusting)." Meanwhile, living on the street and unhinged by jealousy, Randolph becomes obsessed with destroying Smoochy, at first by trying to embarrass him, then by trying to kill him.

Somewhere in this story, there's a parable about fame and the entertainment industry. Who cares, though, when the movie's cartoonish exterior is so much fun? It's been 13 years since Danny DeVito directed a comedy pitched at an adult audience, and he didn't shy away from the murderous strains in Throw Momma From the Train and The War of the Roses. This comedy is similarly dark, but DeVito exhibits better control of the black humor than he did in his two movies from the '80s.

It took Robin Williams long enough, but he finally taps into the disturbing side of his manic comic persona. All the filmmakers had to do was give him a gun and let his demented glee and lack of emotional control do the rest. Williams the actor needs a change of pace like this, though it's somewhat disappointing that the film turns him back into a good guy at the end.

The high-powered cast has the difficult job of finding the right pitch at which to play the material, and DeVito gets splendid work from them. Norton amps up his nice-guy act and works wonders with his purple rhino suit. Other actors would have gotten lost in the costume, but he generates an uncanny sense of presence. As a soulless network executive who improbably falls in love with Smoochy's creator, Catherine Keener is the only actor who doesn't play larger than life, but she's such an odd performer that it doesn't matter. Her character is awfully similar to the one she played in Being John Malkovich (she can be hugely sympathetic -- let's hope she doesn't get typecast), but her offspeed delivery keeps you guessing.

The script by Adam Resnick (formerly of The Larry Sanders Show) is brimming with cracked ideas that come absurdly to life. It depicts the business of kids' television as riddled with organized crime and corruption, much of it emanating from some Irish gangsters who are something out of a 1930s movie. The film's best gags are truly jaw-dropping, like the scene where Randolph sets up Smoochy by luring him to a warehouse for a concert, where it turns out the audience members aren't exactly sweet little children. The climactic Smoochy On Ice show is a veritable explosion of bad taste. DeVito's willing to push boundaries, but he also does it with intelligence and subversiveness, and that makes Death to Smoochy stand out from Hollywood's idiotic comedies.