I’ll keep this one short. Coyote vs. Acme is a real delight from beginning to end. The premise is simple. Fed up with decades of failure trying and failing to catch the Road Runner using faulty Acme products, Wile E. Coyote hires a washed-up personal-injury lawyer to sue the Acme Corporation.
Think “wink and a nod” to Better Call Saul with shades of Who Framed Roger Rabbit. It’s a comedy. A legal thriller. A mystery. An underdog story. A tale of friendship. And more.
Am I overselling it? Maybe.
When the cheap late-night lawyer commercial starts playing on Coyote’s TV and we hear Will Forte’s character Kevin Avery ask “Have you gotten into a catapult, hoping to be gently and sensibly flown to the destination of your choosing, only to be violently pile-drived face first into the ground? Have you ever pulled the ripcord of your parachute and only a bunch of silverware comes out? It’s not your fault.” I’m sorry, but that’s just funny. There is an absurd simplicity to this film that I found myself unexpectedly overcome with joy while watching it.
When I was a kid, Looney Tunes was a sort of comfort food. Long day at school? Sick and stay home in bed? Bugs, Daffy, Porky, Coyote, Road Runner, Sylvester, and Tweety were always there. The music. The voices. The lunacy. The art. There is real time and place magic in those cartoons. I feel like Coyote vs Acme manages to capture some of that magic and bring it to the screen with a ton of love and care.
The animation is spot on. It feels classic. The human performances are great too. This is a world where cartoons and humans just coexist. A judge uses a cartoon gavel, a cartoon rooster can be a CEO, and a can of black paint can open up a tunnel in a wall. Nobody blinks. It’s played straight.
Will Forte anchors the film as the lovable, loser lawyer with his trademark deadpan delivery. The relationship he forms with Coyote, and the friendship they build across the film, is unexpectedly touching and gives the movie a real emotional journey.
I have to also give credit to the supporting cast of John Cena, Lana Condor, and Martha Kelly, as well. They all bring just the right amount of spaced out humor to their parts.
I think you’ll be surprised by how much you enjoy Coyote vs. Acme. It’s full of genuinely warm moments, silly callbacks to classic gags, and a compassionate, nostalgic heart beating at its center.
It’s a real crime that Warner Bros. tried to bury this film.
If you missed it in the theaters, do yourself a favor and watch Coyote vs. Acme this weekend. Have a laugh and enjoy!
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