Raising Arizona (1987)

Director: Joel Coen

Story: Joel and Ethan Coen

Cast: Nicholas Cage, Holly Hunter

Music: Carter Burwell

Time: 94 minutes

Bottom-line: A crazily hilarious script; full-on entertainment

The Coen brothers’ first comedy film – and their second feature film – Raising Arizona is unlike any other Coen brothers film! Starring Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunter in the lead roles, with Trey Wilson, John Goodman and William Forsythe in the supporting roles, the crime-comedy film is a laugh riot.

H. I. “Hi” McDunnough (Cage) is a convenience store robber, who gets arrested. The officer who takes his mugshots is a woman named Edwina “Ed” (Hunter). When it’s love at first sight for Hi, he starts getting arrested deliberately just to see her. Soon enough, he finds out that her fiancé has left her. Following his latest release, Hi proposes to Ed and they get married. Though Hi comes clean of his old lifestyle, the couple faces another problem when they find out that Ed is infertile, and they cannot adopt any kids because of Hi’s criminal record. Luck turns their way when a local furniture magnate, Nathan Arizona (Wilson), and his wife have quintuplets. Hi and Ed kidnap one of the babies, Nathan Jr. When two of His old inmates come to visit and stay in their house for a night, and when news about the kidnapped baby becomes public, Hi’s family life hits the rocks.

 

Cage as Hi, Hunter as Ed, and the baby

Not only is the storyline egregiously different from the neo-noir Blood Simple (and also their future films), but pretty much everything about the film is! I guess this was an experiment the Coens wanted to try out, as they admitted to purposely making the story as different as possible. The polar opposite characteristics of Hi and Ed, and the nature of Hi’s prison mates: Gale and Evelle Snoats (Goodman and Forsythe) are hilariously portrayed. The comic plot twists and the slapstick humour are similar to the style usually seen in Wes Anderson films.

 

Goodman and Forsythe as Gale and Evelle

The plot revolves around how Hi tries to change himself to be a family man, while nothing around him supports him from doing so. His boss proposes a “wife-swapping” program, his jail-mates try to drag him back to shoplifting, and also find out about the baby, and Hi also has a psychotic murderer on his tail, also looking for the baby. Ed is the only person who is fixated on living a family life, while Hi struggles to overcome his impulses. Hi’s attempt to please his own self and his wife is the source of humour.

Nicholas Cage has always intrigued me as to what role he likes playing (never mind if he is good at it). Every character he takes on seems to be quirky and unstable, and Hi McDunnough is the best example. With his accent, hairstyle and overall comic appearance, his performance is quite impressive. It may not be his most elegant show, but it sure gets you laughing. The Coens wrote the story for Holly Hunter playing Ed, and she fits right in. I am surprised the Coens didn’t continue making a few more “mainstream” comedies after this (except The Big Lebowski); this is not their best film, but an amazing first attempt at a comedy. While the story takes a lot of liberty in terms of being realistic, the important thing is that it’s a comedy – and it will make you laugh.

My Rating: 3.5/5

Rotten Tomatoes rating: 91%