Coyote vs. Acme

Coyote vs. Acme is a delightful late summer surprise. This live-action/animated misadventure originated in Ian Frazier’s 1990 humorous anti-corporate New Yorker satire, a mock court case in which Looney Tunes’ resilient Wile E. Coyote sues the Acme Corporation for all the defective mail-order products (rocket-propelled roller skates, jet-boosted pogo stick) that have malfunctioned as he relentlessly chased the Road Runner

Three years after being shelved for a tax write-off, Coyote vs. Acme screeches into theaters, as much a metaphor for perseverance as its wily protagonist. Boulder-size expectations aside, it’s delightful, a screwball, surprisingly poignant tribute to creativity, friendship, and that indefatigable super genius, Wile E. Coyote. Based on Ian Frazier’s dryly brilliant short story in ​​The New Yorker, Coyote vs. Acme​<​/em> blends live action with animation as the dogged desert dweller once again fails to trap his white whale, the ​Road Runner (scientific name: ​ ​ Fastas Hellus​<​/em>), because of some flawed Acme product.