Cool World (1992)
37%RT Audience Score: 31%
Awards & Nominations: 2 nominations
Cool World throws a small handful of visual sparks, but they aren’t enough to distract from the screenplay’s thin characters and scattered plot
Cool World is a movie that tries to be both a live-action and animated film, but ends up being a hot mess. Critics have described it as having no internal logic, a major disappointment, and a disaster. The characters are grating and dislikable, and the plot is too sketchy to provide much of a framework. The only thing that seems to be enjoyable is the occasional burst of zany goings-on. Overall, it’s a movie that’s best left in the past.
Production Company(ies)
Alcon Entertainment, Columbia Pictures, Sony
Distributor
Paramount Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
MPAA / Certificate
Rated PG-13 for language and sensuality
Year of Release
1992
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby SR
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 42m
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Language(s):English
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Jul 10, 1992 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Nov 11, 2003
Genre(s)
Fantasy
Keyword(s)
starring Brad Pitt, Kim Basinger, Gabriel Byrne, Michele Abrams, Deirdre O’Connell, Carrie Hamilton, directed by Ralph Bakshi, written by Michael Grais, Mark Victor, produced by Frank Mancuso Jr., fantasy, PG-13, box office gross $13.7M, reviewed by Dave Kehr, Peter Rainer, Steven Rea, Jay Boyar, Jeff Shannon, Owen Gleiberman, Sergio Benítez, Malcolm Johnson, Gary Thompson, Roger Hurlburt, Stephen Hunter, Brad Pitt as Detective Frank Harris, Kim Basinger as Holli Would, Gabriel Byrne as Jack Deebs, Frank Mancuso Jr as producer, Michael Grais as writer, Mark Victor as writer, Ralph Bakshi as director, animation, live-action, cartoon, intermingling, risk, lustful, blonde bombshell, dire consequences, visual sparks, screenplay, thin characters, scattered plot
Worldwide gross: $14,110,589
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $30,204,076
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,547
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 3,293,792
US/Canada gross: $14,110,589
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $30,204,076
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,272
US/Canada opening weekend: $5,556,451
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $11,893,725
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 898
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $30,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $64,215,767
Production budget ranking: 644
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $34,580,190
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): -$68,591,881
ROI to date (est.): -69%
ROI ranking: 1,803
Gabriel Byrne – Jack Deebs
Brad Pitt – Detective Frank Harris
Michele Abrams – Jennifer Malley
Deirdre O’Connell – Isabelle Malley
Carrie Hamilton – Comic Bookstore Cashier
Director(s)
Ralph Bakshi
Writer(s)
Michael Grais, Mark Victor
Producer(s)
Frank Mancuso Jr.
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
2 nominations
Academy Awards
All Critics (49) | Top Critics (13) | Fresh (2) | Rotten (47)
A few of Bakshi`s inventions, such as a rattled telephone that panics every time it rings, are amusing and well animated, but most of the characters are grating and dislikable.
May 4, 2014 | Rating: 1/4
Dave Kehr
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
What Bakshi and his screenwriters don’t recognize is that even dream worlds have their own fierce logic.
May 4, 2014
Peter Rainer
Los Angeles Times
TOP CRITIC
Watching Byrne, Basinger and Pitt struggle to bring verisimilitude to this cockeyed business is painful. And watching the parade of ricocheting doodles is just headache-inducing.
May 4, 2014 | Rating: 1.5/4
Steven Rea
Philadelphia Inquirer
TOP CRITIC
The plot is too sketchy to provide much of a framework, and the only logic here is the logic of fevered daydreams. Yet, in spurts, the movie’s enjoyable.
May 4, 2014
Jay Boyar
Orlando Sentinel
TOP CRITIC
Bakshi’s world is typically subversive, anti-nostalgic and, at times, a brilliantly conceived grafting of two and three dimensions. Unfortunately, its ingenuity matrix seems to have short-circuited.
May 4, 2014 | Rating: 2/4
Jeff Shannon
Seattle Times
TOP CRITIC
After the painstaking technical bravado of Roger Rabbit, it’s no longer possible to get away with scenes in which a cartoon has obviously just been pasted onto an actor’s wooden movements.
September 7, 2011 | Rating: C
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly
TOP CRITIC
The reluctant performance of the actors joins the lousy combination of live action actors and the animation – with looks and gestures that never end up agreeing. [Full Review in Spanish]
August 24, 2019
Sergio Benítez
Espinof
Its story stretches a fey idea to the breaking point, its dialogue delivers little wit and few laughs and its performances range from adequate to feeble. But Bakshi crams the screen full of zany goings-on, occasionally breaking out with brilliance.
June 4, 2018
Malcolm Johnson
Hartford Courant
Without understanding the motion control cameras and all the other subtle techniques Roger Rabbit employed, it’s amateur hour.
August 6, 2017
Fred Topel
We Live Entertainment
The movie has no internal logic. It’s a mess.
May 4, 2014 | Rating: 1/4
Gary Thompson
Philadelphia Daily News
Cool World is a major disappointment — a repellent oddity with unsavory overtones.
May 4, 2014
Roger Hurlburt
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Much ballyhooed, much-advertised, the live-action/animation feature is much disaster. Not even an animated Kim Basinger dancing the hoochie-coochie can save it from its own death-wish combination of outsized ambition and undersized budget.
May 4, 2014 | Rating: 1/4
Stephen Hunter
Baltimore Sun…
Plot
When cartoonist Jack Deebs was behind bars, he found escape by creating “Cool World”, a cartoon series featuring a voluptuous femme fatale named Holli Would. But the cartoonist becomes a prisoner of his own fantasies when Holli transports Jack into Cool World with a scheme to seduce him and bring herself to life. A hard-boiled detective
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
The cast includes Brad Pitt, Kim Basinger, and Gabriel Byrne, but their performances are poorly integrated into the animation.
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