Cool World

Starring: Kim Basinger, Brad Pitt, Gabriel Byrne, Deirdre O'Connell
Directed by: Ralph Bakshi
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy, Animation
1992

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: In the animated Cool World, a sultry blonde (Kim Basinger) tries to lure a cartoonist (Gabriel Byrne) into the animated world so that she can become human and venture into the real world.

Review:

Tim: The initial idea behind Cool World is a worthwhile one, but mixed priorities and approaches results in a disjointed, disappointing effort. I have to say I'm a fan of mixing animation and live action. While Who Framed Roger Rabbit broke ground in that area, in the early 1990s, there was ample room for further exploration. When you consider making a mix of live action and animation not as a PG movie aimed at kids, but an adult movie that tackles mature themes, you should have a winner on your hands. Cool World was originally envisioned as a hard R-rated film. Unfortunately, due to Kim Basinger and others, the movie became a watered-down PG-13 movie. This was a major mistake and one of the biggest reasons this movie fails. This is a movie originally conceived as an R rated, but turned into a PG-13 film, That translates into the movie not really appealing to anyone.

The basic idea of two different but connected worlds is a fascinating one. I liked the idea of humans traveling to the toon world, and animated cartoons traveling to our world. Seeing that blend was legitimately interesting. It was also a novel idea that by having intercourse with a real person, an animated cartoon could become real. If the movie explored this further, it could have been much better. Instead, it's one plot among others (and the others are often less effective). Still, some interesting ideas were put forth in this film.

The cast is good on paper, although they often appear silly on screen. In 1992, they hadn't quite mastered the ability to make human characters appear as if they were actually talking to the animated ones- the eyes never seem to be looking at the right spot. Forgiving that a little, the cast at least works. Brad Pitt was in a bit of an unlikeable role, although for some reason, we're supposed to care about his character. He's a bit of a bully to the other characters, so I'm not sure why we were supposed to like him. I never did. Kim Basinger does a good job in a dual role. Her voice work is quite strong, bringing Holly Would to life. When Holly travels to the real world and becomes real, it was great to see Basinger in the flesh. Basinger isn't exactly a terrific actress and her performance was a little rough, but it was still fun seeing an animated person come to life and still look so similar. That was one of the strengths of this movie. I really like Gabriel Byrne, but again, his character was a bit underdeveloped and not exactly a character you like or want to support. He was fine, but he didn't really do much for me. On paper, Pitt, Basinger, and Byrne are a terrific trio. In Cool World, they are significantly less effective than they should be.

One aspect of the film that drove me crazy is how pointless the majority of the animated characters were. You might have Pitt walking down a street, and a slew of incredibly annoying animated characters were doing stupid animated things around the screen. The animated movements had no impact on the story and just felt like filler. It was like they were either showing off their ability to blend live action and animation, or just wanted you to remember that animated characters populated Cool World. It was completely unnecessary and distracted from the main storyline. The animation and the live action might have appeared on the screen together, but they didn't compliment each other very much.

Another complaint I have is the whole climax sequence. It felt rushed, silly, and never fully explained. I could go into how annoying it was to see Byrne become a ridiculous animated superhero and all my other complaints, but let's just say that by the end of the movie, I'd really started to lose interest.

I really believe that the ideas behind Cool World could have been executed exceptionally well. However, without one, clear, unifying vision, the movie tried to be too many different things. That gave the movie it's disjointed, unconnected feeling. This is a movie that took a great idea and horribly executed it.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 5.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Who Framed Roger Rabbit, The Usual Suspects