by Robert Zemeckis, 1988.
Starring: Bob Hoskins, Christopher Lloyd, Charles Fleischer, & Joanna Cassidy (note: that’s taken from the back of the video...I think Kathleen Turner voiced Jessica Rabbit, but I could be horribly wrong).
Rating: 8.5/10, 8/10.
I just watched this again for the first time in about seven or eight years, I’d guess. I was afraid of a couple things, going in: that the combination of animation and live action would look cheesier than I’d remembered, that it wouldn’t be funny for an older person, that it wouldn’t, basically, be good. But not to worry, it was wonderful.
I won’t explain the plot, since I don’t feel like it, except to say any movie where the villain is villainous for trying to build a freeway is ok by me ("...and wonderful, wonderful billboards, reaching as far as the eye can see! My god, it’ll be beautiful"). The humour is a great mix of lowbrow, highbrow, intelligent, stupid, complex, and simple. And it looks, simply, beautiful. There’s nothing I can say about the mixing of live action and animation that wasn’t said fifty billion times back in 1988, but wow. Astonishing.
The cartoon characters are all great. Roger himself is perfect. ‘Nuff said. Baby Herman is hilarious, especially when he drops his cigar. And Jessica Rabbit...ahh, Jessica. One of the greatest characters in a movie, ever. Seriously. Her first scene, where she sings "Why Don’t You Do Right?", is a masterpiece.
Bob Hoskins is right-on as Eddie Valiant, the private investigator who hasn’t worked for ‘toons since one killed his brother. He somehow manages to seem like a cartoon character and a real person at the same time. Joanna Cassidy is also right-on as his love interest, Dolores, the bartender. She was exactly the perfect choice for the role. And Christopher Lloyd...well, he’s Christopher Lloyd. He can do no wrong.
Memorable scenes (all of the scenes are memorable; these are just a few that stick out): the chase scene with Benny the cab, toontown, the whole sequence where Roger and Eddie are handcuffed to each other, the Ink & Paint club.