A court procedural but with Looney Tunes characters?
After years of failed attempts to catch the Road Runner, the Coyote decides to sue the ACME corporation for all their failing gadgets.
Coyote Vs ACME starts with the Warner Brothers logo with an additional asterisk. The notation being “Subsidiary of the ACME corporation.” Considering ACME are the villains of the piece, there’s an analogy here for our current Hollywood affairs; the devastating proposed purchase of Warner Brothers by Paramount Pictures. The movie is directed by Dave Green (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows, and Earth to Echo) and stars Will Forte, Lana Condor, and John Cena. As well as a host of cartoon characters.
The Coyote taking a business to court is a weird premise. Does it clear the gap, or plummet like a stone?
The film follows The Coyote, of Looney Tunes fame, once more failing to catch and eat his nemesis, The Road Runner. This time, he has had enough of failing ACME gadgets he uses. This time, he hires small-time lawyer Kevin Avery to sue the mega corporation. But unbeknownst to them, there is something even more sinister at play.
This is a surreal premise. One that doesn’t seem aimed at kids, but directly at the millennial (and older) audience. Coyote and Road Runner debuted in 1949, in an animated short called “Fast and Furry-ous”. Allow yourself a minute to let that sink in. While Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck certainly had the limelight during this time, I remember watching more of Road Runner’s antics. The silent movie nature of it; the physical and visual comedy. It was straight-forward and yet mind-bending.
To put it simply: Coyote taking ACME to court (as surreal as that is) makes a lot of sense.
The film borrows the film-making style of forerunner Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and later Space Jam. Our real world is also inhabited by toons. We live alongside them. Enter our fledging lawyers Kevin (Forte) and his budding newly hired Paige (Condor) who also happens to be his niece. Kevin has no desire to take on big cases. More than that, toon-cases levied against ACME get buried or settled. Coyote, however, has mountains of evidence. Before long, Kevin is looking at taking on the biggest, most successful corporation… in the courtroom. ACME’s chief lawyer, Buddy (Cena) will stop at nothing to bury this case.
I can’t imagine many children are that interested in courtrooms, case settlements, or juries. But luckily, like Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, the Coyote is centre stage all the time. The self-proclaimed “genius” is constantly up to mischief and has a talent for total chaos. One of the film’s most immediate strengths is when this chaos affects the real world. Cars explode. Dust bursts all over people. It is very rewarding visual comedy. It is very funny the more the movie goes on. I was chuckling away with it.
Furthermore, Coyote doesn’t talk.
It feels like a strange thing to comment on. Of course he doesn’t talk? But it wouldn’t be the first time a silent cartoon character suddenly had a voice.
We get plenty of other Looney Tunes alumni making appearances too. Which obviously helps appeal to the younger audiences. Will Forte and Lana Condor do their best to compete with the comical co-stars. Although, it does hammer home how great actors like Bob Hoskins and Robin Williams were at competing or inhabiting these larger-than-life personas.
That asterisk I mentioned at the beginning? It was only the tip of the iceberg. While we enjoy The Coyote’s mad foray into law, more is afoot. The film enjoys the more modernist take on The Coyote’s lot in life. He is… ostensively… a villain. Forte’s Kevin is, somewhat, a bumbling Saul Goodman next to Coyote. But relatively recent analysis suggests Coyote is an icon of perseverance. Of never giving up. This ties with Kevin’s foundering law firm quite well. The symbolism of Sisyphus is regularly used. A small, chaotic individual who has no luck, taking on a corporation. Win or lose, something can still be gained.
It is quite effective, and the pacing is good as it unwraps its intentions. There’s a moment where I felt the subtext could have been sharper. But they go for a more familiar “liar reveal” speed-bump, and a more stretched out conspiracy. Which are both fine, ultimately. However, I didn’t feel quite as much emotion as I might have. But I did feel some! Which considering the premise, it is remarkable.
Additional Marshmallows: John Cena using Tweetie Pie’s vocal inflections is very funny.