The Task: Watch and write about every movie on my shelf, in order (Blu-rays are sorted after DVDs), by June 10, 2015. Remaining movies: 135 Days to go: 94
Movie #303: Who Framed Roger Rabbit
A lot of these movies that were innovative and amazing back when they came out are naturally a bit outdated now, but Who Framed Roger Rabbit still impresses the hell out of me. It sets the bar, really, for this time of seamless integration of cartoon animation and live action. I mean, I haven’t seen Space Jam, but I’m willing to bet Who Framed Roger Rabbit is better.
For one thing, Who Framed Roger Rabbit has a solid plot and is an entertaining movie outside of its gimmick. It’s an old school P.I. story with a film noir wink. Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) is the washed up detective roped into a case that turns out to be more than he bargained for. Dolores (the impeccable Joanna “I’m right on top of that, Rose!” Cassidy) is the good woman at his side, despite his downward spiral since his brother’s murder and his subsequent fall into the bottom of a bottle. Roger (Charles Fleischer) is our wronged husband, set up for murder. He just happens to be a cartoon. And his wife, Jessica (Kathleen Turner) is your basic femme fatale, only without the fatale part. (She’s not bad, she’s just drawn that way.) Judge Doom (Christopher Lloyd) is the scary hardass arm of the law out to get them all. It’s the type of movie that has a format and a formula, but the notes it hits don’t feel like tropes because of the creativity and the freshness brought on by the angle of toons living amongst us, and Toon Town being a real place that they’re all from.
Who Framed Roger Rabbit doesn’t just adopt the feel of a forties mystery, though. It also adopts the style and feel of a classic cartoon. There are sight gags and the physics are fluid and stretchy (particularly in Toon Town) and there are jokes, jokes, jokes. The movie is silly and joyful, even when it’s dark. There are heroes and villains, but the stakes are delightfully cartoonish. (Most of the time. Dip is pretty scary, especially considering the brutal way Doom straight up murders that shoe.)
My favorite parts of the movie, though, are the little things. When Roger puts his hand on Eddie’s brother’s chair, he leaves a mark in the dust on it. When Roger peeks through the hidey hole at the bar, his eyeballs knock over a beer bottle. When Eddie is hiding Roger in his sink and lets him up to breathe, he spits water everywhere. I love all these tiny details. And I love Bob Hoskins. And I love Who Framed Roger Rabbit.
“You mean you could’ve taken your hand out of that cuff at any time?”
“No, not at any time, only when it was funny.”
Viable Option 