Exactly why Warner Bros./Discovery shelved the animated-mixed-with-live-action COYOTE VS. ACME in November 2023 remains unclear. Some stories said it was to reduce company debt by claiming it as a tax write-off. Others suggested that the marketing department looked at the diminishing returns of previous hybrids like the LeBron James Looney Tunes movie and decided to save a ton of cash on release and marketing. No matter, the clever conceit of Wile E. Coyote suing the Acme corporation for their failing products in his disastrous efforts to catch the Roadrunner was deemed not ready for the audience’s eyes. Then, after many interested parties tried to help the comedy see the light of day, it finally came out through a distribution deal with Ketchup Entertainment, and its debut at San Diego’s Comic Con this past July was stellar. Now, the film has received a wide release and is currently holding at 96% fresh on RottenTomatoes.com, where my rave review will soon join the plaudits.
If you like cartoons, the world of Looney Tunes, clever courtroom sagas, or satire that sticks it to the man, you will likely adore this film. I did for all those reasons. It’s an affectionate call-back to the nostalgia of Looney Tunes, juxtaposed with the cynicism of our modern world, executed with sly savvy from first moment to last, and with a ton of heart too. Even if you never cheered on the sad-sack Wile E. Coyote as he desperately chased down those desert roads after his dinner, the way this film turns him into a silent film comedian, with humor and pathos, will engage you, make you laugh, and, dare I say, maybe even produce a lump in your throat by the story’s end.
In this story, the scrawny coyote character has had enough of Acme’s products blowing up in his face and causing bodily harm with each new product. So he decides to sue the company for damages and finds a lazy, sleazy attorney willing to help. The shyster Kevin Avery (Will Forte) makes small gains for his put-upon cartoon clients who face similar harm in their lives, and it keeps his storefront law firm open. Barely. Avery misses the bigger picture that Mr. Coyote paints him, but his niece Paige (Lana Condor), who’s interning at Avery, Jones & Maltese, latches onto the potential conspiracy being perpetrated by the mammoth Acme corporation on unwitting putzes like the desert wolf.
Soon, the Averys are marching into court with a large class action suit against the modern-day Goliath, and squaring off with Buddy Crane (Jon Cena), the barracuda of a lawyer repping Acme. All of this presents the filmmakers with opportunity after golden opportunity to bring in beloved characters, tried-and-true tropes from the cartoon world, and some very pointed commentary about corporate overreach, let alone, yes, animal testing. (Here, at least, the animals are cartoons and can bounce back after all kinds of harm is done to their rubbery personas.)
Screenwriter Samy Burch, who worked on the story with fellow screenwriters James Gunn and Jeremy Slater, leaves no gag unturned from the cartoon world, including black paint that creates tunnels, cartoon props that squeak and squawk, and one-liners that are thrown away faster than that speedy bird running down the road all day. If you’ve seen WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT from 1988, you can imagine how fast and furious the gags come at you, making hay of all things cartoon, let alone the strange America that mixes live action and animation, as if that’s all perfectly normal. Still, almost all the gags land, and underneath it all is a sweetness that the 1988 classic didn’t have, starting with the tragic figures that are both the Coyote and his attorney. The actors play it straight and come off as both funny and moving, with special kudos to Cena for not overdoing his villain. The film is also clever enough to introduce certain classic characters quite late in the game, heightening the suspense. Plus, any film that starts with Dr. Lorre as the forlorn cartoon scientist trying to expose Acme’s skullduggery is aces in my book, because how many people today even know they’re riffing on the classic cartoon character from the 40s, as well as the Golden Age actor Peter Lorre who played villains in classics like M and THE MALTESE FALCON?
The New Mexico locations utilized throughout the picture are fresh, the visual effects are expert, and the character development throughout is surprisingly rich. Director Dave Green handles it all with aplomb, making a film that is as shrewd as it is witty, and as emotional as it is editorial. It’s so good, it’s hard to believe that the C-suites at Warner’s could ever have been so ineffectual about this enterprise. Fortunately for audiences and the world of movies, this little gem is out in cinemas now, making money and getting wide acclaim. That’s a lot at the end of such a long struggle, and yes indeed, that’s all, folks!
