The coyote finally gets his day in court. It turns out to be the most funny trial of the year.
“Coyote vs. Acme” takes a simple idea — what if the coyote sued the company that keeps selling him broken rockets and gadgets — and builds a full, warm, clever film around it. Dave Green directed the film, and Samy Burch wrote it. Both treat the idea with more care than it strictly needs, and the film is better for it.
The Case Against Acme
The coyote has had enough. After Acme Corporation’s goods fail him one too many times in his chase of the bird he can never catch, he hires a billboard lawyer to take the company to court.
That lawyer is Kevin Avery, played by Will Forte, a billboard attorney who finds an unexpected case and an unexpected cause. The setup sounds thin on paper. On screen, it’s a starting point for real corporate satire, aimed directly at goods that break, guarantees that don’t hold, and companies that never answer for either.
Cast That Commits
Forte holds the film together as Kevin. Lana Condor plays Paige Avery, and Tone Bell appears as Sal Maltese. John Cena shows up as Buddy Crane, Martha Kelly as Dottie Jones, and Luis Guzmán brings even, calm authority as Judge Troppogrosso.
Every one of them plays it straight, which is exactly what a film this silly needs. Nobody nods at the camera. The joke is always the situation, never the actors’ knowing part in it.
Joining Two Worlds
The mix of live action and animation is the film’s biggest technical effort, and it lands. The coyote and the bird he chases move between animated form and the court without ever losing the loose, painful logic of the old cartoon shorts that made them famous.
The film honors that history instead of trying to update it into something safer. It’s rare that a family comedy trusts its cartoon harm enough to let it stay cartoon harm, and this one does.
What Works Best
- The trial itself, which turns Acme’s history of bad goods into a real legal and funny engine.
- The sight of animation and live action side by side, which is built with care instead of kept out of sight.
- Luis Guzmán’s Judge Troppogrosso, who grounds every court scene with calm authority.
- The film’s willingness to keep Acme’s conduct at the center of the story throughout.
A Rough Road to the Screen
It matters less how this film reached cinemas than what’s on screen. The finished work deserves to be judged on its own footing, and it holds up.
At 103 minutes and holding a rating meant for family viewing, it never stays too long. The comedy moves fast, the stakes stay clear, and the satire has teeth without turning bitter. This is a family film that trusts the audience enough to let a joke land and a lawsuit actually matter.
The Verdict
“Coyote vs. Acme” is exactly what it promises: a very funny, clever, warm tribute to the most unlucky character ever built for cartoons.
It takes a simple premise and turns it into something with real satire, real work, and real feeling for its subject. This is one of the best family comedies of the year, live action or otherwise.
