Year of Release: 1988
Director: Robert Zemeckis
Starring: Bob Hoskins, Joanna Cassidy, Christopher Lloyd, Stubby Kaye, Charles Fleischer, Joel Silver, Alan Tilvern, Richard Ridings, Kathleen Turner
Genre: Comedy
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 8
Synopsis and Review:
Director Robert Zemeckis had a tremendous run of successful films in the 80s, with this one being one of his highest marks. Coming off the success of "Back to the Future", Zemeckis embarked on the "Amazing Stories" project, alongside his mentor Steven Spielberg, and quickly moved into "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", which to this day, still marvels as an almost perfect marriage of live action and animation feature. The story focuses on the life of private detective Eddie Valiant. Once part of a thriving detective agency with his brother, following his brother's brutal murder, Eddie now mostly tackles rather seedy assignments, and wastes his money on alcohol. He gets a special assignment from a Movie Studio mogul, to follow the wife of a toon star, who can't get his focus in the films being shot, since he believes his wife Jessica is being unfaithful. When this studio Mogul shows up dead, Roger Rabbit becomes the main suspect, even though he's clueless to what is happening. He begs Eddie for help, something he eventually agrees to, even if that means going back to ToonTown, the place where his brother met his dramatic death. As Eddie pokes through the clues, he eventually figures out there's a sinister plot being put in place to destroy toon town and cartoons in general, which he must prevent from occurring.
Robert Zemeckis has always been the rare storyteller who is also a highly skilled technical expert, always pushing the limits of what can be captured and done on film. "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" manages to marvel from a narrative standpoint, with its sleuthing premise, while also embedding the energy and chaos of the Looney Tunes universe, making both these universes co-exist very seamlessly. It's a film that doesn't take itself very seriously, poking fun at the classic private detective genre that is celebrating, while also letting the cartoons do their thing, invade the narrative with their mix of energy, lunacy and humor. While most of these characters are suppose to be cartoonish, there's enough dimension to all of these, including the central cartoons, to make them feel like actual characters with motivations and an actual journey. Bob Hoskins commands the screen impeccably, with just enough grit, warmth and surprise, with plenty of good support from Christopher Lloyd, Joanna Cassidy and the unforgettable Kathleen Turner, who makes Jessica Rabbit an unforgettable vixen. The cinematography from Dean Cundey is stellar, as is the score from Alan Silvestri. A wonderful film always worth revisiting.
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