Raising Arizona (1987)

1st watched 11/21/2008 - (Dir-Joel Coen): Attempted road-runner like comedy falls flat of impressing me as it's plodding pace bored me. Despite my expectations before watching this early Coen brothers film, I was somewhat disappointed with this screwball comedy with strange characters. Nicolas Cage has done this kind of non-acting before in other movies and Holly Hunter isn't a whole lot better. The movie is basically about a couple that wants a child, can't have one and decides to steal one of the quintuplets of a local rich family, obviously because they cant handle five. The antics that revolve around this act with other strange characters like a over-the-top motorcycle bounty hunter and prison mates also get in the act of trying to get the child and the reward money. All in all, the ridiculousness doesn't necessarily make for a very funny movie and I'm sure there have been better movies carrying basically this same premise.

Fmovies: When I first heard of Raising Arizona, I was 8 years old. I was spending a weekend with my dad and it was on a Friday night. Usually when I see a movie for the first time on television, I either direct my attention to the screen to see what it is or direct my attention to something that I was doing. I came in right in the middle of the movie and I didn't know what it was about and I certainly didn't understand the concept behind it. But, I do remember laughing and having a good time while watching this movie. Now, looking back on it, it still makes me laugh even harder and longer.

The story centers around a convict/loser named H.I. McDunnough, (Nicholas Cage). His friends called him Hi. For the last several years, Hi has been robbing convenience stores and ending up in the slammer. After three times, Hi decides to go straight. He seeks the attraction of a pretty cop named Edwina "Ed" McDunnough, (Holly Hunter). Soon after, Hi and Ed get married. But, there's just one problem. They want to raise a family. So, the couple decides to keep trying. But according to a local gynecologist, Ed is infertile, meaning that she can't have kids. According to Hi's perspective, he can't "plant his seed" into Ed. Hopeless, the couple decides to steal one of the Arizona quints. One night, Hi and Ed steal one of the quints from a very wealthy businessman, (Sam McMurray), who owns a furniture store in Arizona.

As the movie progresses, the humor starts to kick in when the local police and the F.B.I. conduct a manhunt on the missing quint. Meanwhile, two prisoners, (John Goodman and William Forsythe), escaped from prison and take shelter in Hi's home. But, the two prisoners want Hi to go along with them to pull off a heist. While that is going, another character comes walking into the story. An deranged and hellish lone motorcycle driver, (Randall 'Tex' Cobb), enters the story through Hi's dreams and his job is to find the quint and find the people who stole him.

You can see that the movie is quite ambitious for its own kind. To tell you the truth, it is. This is the first comedy being made by the always entertaining movie-making duo, Joel and Ethan Coen. Their movies never ceased to amaze me. They have really carved out a reputation of movie- making with their witty scripts and their zany approach to a story. What surprises me is that this movie is actually their first comedy. Before the Coen brothers made Raising Arizona, they wrote and direct a very dark and violent neo-noir film, Blood Simple, which was released three earlier. This is quite surprising because Blood Simple was a very serious and sometimes bloody film that had a lot of twists and turns in it.

Here, it's a change of pace. How they were to pull this one off is something that strikes me dumb. Watching the movie, I found myself laughing more than ever since I now understand the themes involved. One of the funniest scenes that I saw and it is the most significant one is when Cage's character robs a convenience store and disguised himself by putting pantyhose on his head. This plan doesn't since his wife leaves him behind, having him deal with the trigger-happy clerk and the police. The chase goes all over the place with Cage being chased by the clerk, the police and a pack of dogs. Even in the middle of the chase, Cage is even given a lift with an screaming hayseed driver. The way the chase sequence is shot makes it seems that the chase is being played as a cartoon. Maybe that's why

RAISING ARIZONA (1987) ***1/2

Starring: Nicholas Cage, Holly Hunter, John Goodman, William Forsythe, and Frances McDormand Director: Joel Coen Written by Ethan Coen & Joel Coen Rated PG-13 (for violence and language)

By Blake French:

"Raising Arizona" is one of the best, most sunny and uplifting comedies I have ever seen. It is inspirational and detailed, from start to finish. The movie is written and directed by the creators of "Fargo," Ethan and Joel Coen, who not surprisingly have placed together a movie masterpiece featuring some really big laughs while still getting the powerful moral of the story across.

The film stars Nicolas Cage as a criminal named H.I., who recently married a police officer named Ed (Holly Hunter), after meeting her in prison. The couple live in a lonely world with hope and dreams of having a kid, until they find out that Ed can't have babies--leaving them no chance at ever fulfilling their dreams of having a child of their own some day.

One afternoon, however, H.I. gets an idea: he will kidnap one of the babies of the furniture salesman Nathan Arizona, whose wife just had quintuplets. After all, why would they miss just one child when he has that many?

H.I. does this successfully and discretely. He and Ed are as happy as can be. Until some guilt begins to strike him when a $25,000 reward is offered for whomever finds and brings back this child, named Nathan Arizona who is named after his loving father. Soon, however, H.I.'s old jailhouse friends, Gale and Evelle, break out of prison and cause uproar for him. Then a helmet warring biker from hell shows up causing even more trouble. After that, there is an old neighbor enemy of his whom appears knowing his secret. Maybe the idea of raising Arizona wasn't such a good idea after all.

The screenplay features some of the funniest moments in film history. The scenes enjoy the insanity of becoming a live action cartoon and a series of melodramatic happenings. One sequence, in particular, when HI robs a convenient story for Huggie's dippers for Nathan Jr., the filmmakers take advantage of the comedic situations involved with the circumstances here. It includes slapstick humor mixed with high energy and risky stakes as Cage is chased by gun happy policemen, store clerks, one, two and then a dozen vicious dogs, his wife, and his morals in a exiting and hilarious adventure worth the watch all on its own. There are also several other funny moments in the movie.

The performances are also to die for. Nicolas Cage, known for a little heftier of roles, is full of shimmer here. Such a robust flavor explodes from his juicy character. Holly Hunter is also bursting with comic parody. Her character is perfectly portrayed with the right amount of hostility and human understanding. John Goodman and William Forsythe are hilarious as the two prison escapees. Their exaggerated characters fit the film's comic tone flawlessly. Frances McDormand, who was so good in the 1996 satire "Fargo," here is a little underplayed. Yes, her performance fits her character's attitude and witty remarks, but in general, I think her role was too shallow considering her ability.

The ending of "Raising Arizona" consists of a daydream sequence from the mind of HI, a character so hopeless and free spirited the empathy felt for him matches any character in any chosen movie. The dream features a vision that takes place in the future where every

Raising Arizona fmovies. "Raising Arizona" is one of what I consider to be the five instantly classic films by the team of Ethan and Joel Coen, the others being "Blood Simple", "Fargo", "Oh Brother Where Are Thou", and "The Big Lebowski".

But "Raising Arizona" is my personal favorite, and probably the most quotable films I have ever seen, with some of the best dialogue ever written for film.

The story in brief: H.I. (Nicholas Cage) and "Ed" (Holly Hunter, in one of my favorite roles of hers) portray, respectively, an ex-con and a cop who meet when he keeps getting arrested for robbing convenience stores. They fall in love, get married, decide that "there is just too much love" between them, and they need a "critter to share it with". Upon finding that "Edwina's insides were a rocky place" where H.I.'s "seed could find no purchase", they try to adopt, but are turned down because of H.I.'s record. Then they read in the newspaper about local unpainted furniture storeowner Nathan Arizona (Trey Wilson), owner of "Unpainted Arizona", and his wife having quintuplets as a result of fertility pills, and who joke that "They got more than they can handle". The couple hatch a plan to take one of the babies and raise it as their own.

What results is an ongoing, fast-paced, hilarious set of misadventures, complicated by the appearance of a ruthless, heartless outlaw named Leonard Smalls (Randall "Tex" Cobb) Nathan Arizona hires to find the missing baby, and two felon friends from H.I.'s past (John Goodman and William Forsythe), who make a childbirth-like escape from prison. Sam McMurray (the smarmy dad in "Drop Dead Gorgeous") is H.I.'s....smarmy boss, Glen. Frances McDormand (real-life spouse of Joel Coen, and star of other Coen films such as "Blood Simple" and "Fargo") is his excitable wife Dot. M. Emmet Walsh ("Blood Simple") has a scenery-chewing cameo role as H.I.'s talkative co-worker.

When Ed finally opens up her 5'2" can of Southern-fried whup-ass, throwing her badge to the dirt, striding towards Leonard Smalls as she bellows with all her might, "Gimme back that baby, you warthog from HELL!!!" I always fling my arms up and shout "You go girl! Kick his ass!"

And the way Hunter cries is hilarious.

Holly Hunter was great in this role, as one would expect. She's a very talented actress, in both serious and comedic roles.

Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunter made a great on screen couple, Cage with his hair standing out in every direction, looking like a hapless, browbeaten puppy half of the time, and Hunter as his diminutive firecracker of a wife who loves him and tries to keep him honest (oh yeah except for that little kidnapping excursion).

I could go on and on about this film but suffice to say that so far I haven't met anyone who didn't find "Raising Arizona" hilarious. And as any great Coen brothers film, it has a certain mythic quality that's hard to describe, but is present all of of the brothers' best efforts. When I was single, I often used Coen brothers films as a barometer of sorts for prospective boyfriends. For instance, I remember seeing "Fargo" on a first date, and when we came out of the theater, the guy (whose name I have since forgotten anyway) remarked "Huh, I didn't think much of that", while I was

The Coen Brothers are genius !! That's not an opinion, that's a fact. I can appreciate and respect all kind of different opinions on all sort of matters, but not on this one. If anyone says the Coen brothers are bad, overrated or not funny, they are just plain wrong. Raising Arizona is the funniest story I've ever seen. It can go over the top as much as it wants and still it doesn't become bad. That's a great achievement only the Coen Brothers can do. Jim Carrey can't do it and neither can Mike Myers. At the same time, this story is emotional and warming. How often do you see a combination like that. Joel and Ethan Coen often use the same actors and actresses. And they're right cause those who play in their films belong to Hollywoods very best. John Goodman, Holly Hunter...and in this film Nicolas Cage !! Nic plays one of his best roles so far. Perhaps even THE best. Holly Hunter is great as always and this role fits her perfectly. I believe it was also written especially for her. No need to say John Goodman and William Forsythe give away flawless performances as well. Try also to pay attention to the rather small part played by Frances McDormand. Raising Arizona is about a criminal falling in love with a police woman. They wanna celebrate their love with a baby but they are unable to have one themselves. Than the news breaks! A rich couple in the area received quintets. 5 healthy young babies. Hi and Ed (our couple) think it's unfair and they decide to steal one of them so they could raise their own little family. Now, the few lines I've wrote appear already in the intro of the movie. I can hear you think : with what else are the going to fill the movie. Well, go and see. If you haven't seen this film yet it's a real shame. It's a must see for everyone!!! Some scenes are so hilarious you'll have trouble breathing, I assure you. This film doesn't need stupid faces or teenager sex jokes to be funny.

This amusing picture concerns about an ex-convict (Nicolas Cage) who falls in love for a policewoman (Holly Hunter) who takes him a picture each time he goes to prison . Both of whom wish sons but cannot have any . Then they decide to abduct one from a couple with five children . Meanwhile , a pair of ex convicts (John Goodman and William Forshyte) meddle themselves in their marriage life . Besides , a bounty hunter (Randall Tex Cobb) called the ¨lone biker of apocalypse¨ sets off in pursuit the protagonists for obtaining the reward offered by the child's dad .

The film blends irony , humor , tongue-in-cheek , chase scenes , slapstick and is very amusing and entertaining . It's a splendid comedy with set pieces cartoon where the action and humor is continuous from the presentation until the ending . The film was influenced by the works of Preston Sturges and writers such as William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor , known for her southern literature . Enthusiastic performances by the two main stars , Nicolas Cage is perfectly casted , though his relationship with the Coen Brothers wasn't respectful , but turbulent . When he arrived on-set, and at various other points during production , Cage offered suggestions to the Coen brothers, which they ignored . And Holly Hunter is sympathetic , giving an attractive acting . The movie that was shot in 10 weeks has its moments here and there and being pretty enjoyable and bemusing . Many crew members who had worked with the Coen Brothers on Blood simple (1984) returned for this film , including cinematographer Barry Sonnenfeld , co-producer Mark Silverman , production designer Jane Musky , associate producer and assistant director Deborah Reinisch , and film composer Carter Burwell . Breathtaking cinematography by Barry Sonnenfeld who makes a great camera work , after becoming a famous director with many smash hits (Men in black) . Excellent musical score by Carter Burwell (Rob Roy) , he's habitual musician of Cohen brothers films . Rating : High recommendation. Above average . Well worth watching.