Movie Reviews

Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a great example of a film with special effects that appear in almost every scene, but that actually support and add to the story, rather than just look cool.

The story involves an investigation into the death of the mayor of "Toon Town". Roger Rabbit is implicated as the prime suspect, because he had recently discovered that his wife Jessica Rabbit (I love how she's not even a rabbit... "Rabbit" just happens to be her last name after marrying Roger) may have been having an affair with the deceased mayor. Of course, it's all a setup, and we follow a private investigator named Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) as he tries to solve the case. Eddie, however, has recently forgone working with "toons" after a toon murdered his brother (by dropping a piano on his head).

The best parts of the movie involve all of the various classic cartoon characters that pop up in one way or another, and all of the little throw-away jokes and gags that show up behind the main action. The cartoon effects themselves are pretty good (they won a special-acheivement Academy Award back in 1988); they've certainly held up well, although I couldn't help but wonder how much more seamless they would be if the film were to have been made today. Bob Hoskins does a really good job of "acting" with the cartoon-characters, and he works well as the straight man among all the other bizarre characters. Christopher Lloyd is really funny and demented as Judge Doom, the guy who 'polices' Toon Town and who may have something to do with the set-up.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit is not a really great movie or anything, but it's definitely a lot of fun.