A bizarre accident lands Frank Harris in Cool World, a realm of cartoons. Years later, cartoonist Jack Deebs, who's been drawing Cool World, crosses over as well. He sets his lustful sights on animated femme fatale Holli Would, but she's got plans of her own to become real, and it's up to Frank to stop her.
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.
– Jeff Shannon,
Seattle Times,
4 May 2014
fresh:
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.
– Jay Boyar,
Orlando Sentinel,
4 May 2014
rotten:
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.
– Steven Rea,
Philadelphia Inquirer,
4 May 2014
rotten:
What Bakshi and his screenwriters don't recognize is that even dream worlds have their own fierce logic.
– Peter Rainer,
Los Angeles Times,
4 May 2014
rotten:
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.