Someone once told me that the two key questions people most ask about movies are 1) Who’s in it? and 2) What’s it about?
If that’s true, I offer the following:
Who’s in Coyote vs. Acme, a mix of live action and animation that brings a rich trove of Looney Tunes characters back to the screen with a level of humor that’s difficult to resist?
Well, Wile E. Coyote and his nemesis, Road Runner, have major roles. But you’ll also find appearances by Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn, Tweety Bird, and John Cena.
Oh, wait. Cena is one of the movie’s human characters. Displaying the right amount of cartoonish exaggeration, Cena plays the chief attorney of Acme Corp., a company that makes destructive devices for cartoons. If something blows up, you can be sure the blast arrives courtesy of Acme.
Now, for part two: What's it about?
Wile E. Coyote wants to file a suit against Acme for giving him a defective pair of rocket skates that went blooey while he was chasing the Road Runner down a desert highway.
Coyote enlists Kevin Avery (Will Forte), a small-potatoes Albuquerque attorney, to battle a corporate titan. Think Better Call Saul without the larcenous streak. Ill-prepared for a high-profile case, Avery bungles his way toward the courtroom and eventually an appearance at a congressional hearing presided over by Elmer Fudd.
Lana Condor plays Kevin's niece, an intern at his firm, Avery, Jones & Maltese, a name derived from Looney Tunes icons Tex Avery, Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese. Condor's Paige does most of the heavy lifting as Avery suffers through a perpetual crisis of confidence.
Director Dave Green assembles this cartoon mashup in clever ways that make sense out of the outlandish, mixing cartoon and human characters with skillfully applied wit. Wisely, the animated and human characters live in the same world, which frees the story from having to alternate between realities.
Better yet, the movie doesn’t feel as if it were concocted solely to ride a swelling wave of nostalgia.
Screenwriter Sam Burch broadens the fun by adding a layer of satire about corporate greed that leads to negligence. Acme has an ulterior motive for exploiting cartoon characters. Applied with the same buoyantly cartoonish spirit that ripples throughout, the message adds a contemporary flourish.
No need to oversell Coyote vs. Acme. For Looney Tunes fans, the movie provides an engaging helping of colorful fun. Besides, you won't want to miss Foghorn Leghorn’s courtroom oration about Acme’s devious Project Sisyphus.
If you follow movie news, you know that Coyote vs. Acme had difficulty reaching the screen after Warner Bros. shelved it. It was eventually bought and released by Ketchup Entertainment. I won’t reiterate the whole story. Google away if you want to know more.
Maybe it doesn't matter how Coyote vs. Acme reached the screen. I'll remind you, though, that the movie's message about refusing to accept defeat in the face of inevitable failure has existential relevance that still can strike home. These days, it might be the comic relief we desperately need.
