Coyote vs. Acme is now playing in theaters, arriving three years after it was completed and delighting audiences with a mix of slapstick humor, sharp satire, and moments of genuine warmth. For a project that nearly disappeared, the finished film proves worth the long wait.
The movie draws its premise from a well-known satirical piece by Ian Frazier, also titled “Coyote vs. Acme,” published in The New Yorker in 1990. Development on a film adaptation began in 2018, with talent including James Gunn contributing to the script. That history made Warner Bros.’ 2023 decision to shelve the completed film as a tax write-off especially controversial, drawing criticism from both industry figures and fans online before the project eventually found its way to release.
A Cartoon Legal Battle at the Center of the Story
The concept is simple and inspired. After decades of failed ACME products in his pursuit of the Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote decides to sue the corporation. He hires Albuquerque personal injury lawyer Kevin Avery, played by Will Forte, to take on Acme’s corporate legal team, led by Buddy Crane (John Cena), who happens to be Kevin’s old law school classmate.
Kevin has filed numerous personal injury claims against Acme over the years on behalf of cartoon clients, typically settling out of court for small amounts. He expects the same outcome here, until a clerical error escalates the matter into a massive lawsuit targeting every Acme product. Acme responds with a surprisingly generous settlement offer, but the coyote tears it up, pushing the case to trial.
The complication is that Kevin is not a trial lawyer. He relies on his intern niece Paige (Lana Condor) and partners Sal Maltese (Tone Bell) and Dottie Jones (Martha Kelly). The Road Runner is the only eyewitness to Wile E.’s many mishaps and is nearly impossible to bring into a courtroom. Acme, meanwhile, guards a secret tied to something called “Project Sisyphus” and the 1992 disappearance of an Acme product development scientist, and the company will go to great lengths to protect it.
A Loving Homage to Looney Tunes
The film functions as a clever tribute to the classic Looney Tunes catalog, weaving familiar characters throughout the story. Wile E. Coyote remains as determined as ever to catch the Road Runner, while Porky Pig appears as another of Kevin’s personal injury clients. Buddy Crane is shown scheming alongside Foghorn Leghorn and threatening Tweety Bird during the proceedings, and Daffy Duck also factors into the courtroom drama.
The blend of live-action and animation supports both the comedy and the satirical undercurrent, with Wile E. even editorializing during the trial itself. The result balances familiar cartoon chaos with a plot built around corporate accountability. Coyote vs. Acme is in theaters now, distributed by Ketchup Entertainment.
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Image: arstechnica.com
