Raising Arizona

Joel Coen, USA, 1987, 94 minutes

The Coen brothers have been giving their loyal fans some headaches in recent years, with the under appreciated Intolerable Cruelty and the ill-judged remake of The Ladykillers, so it seems time is ripe to revisit one of their earliest wo rks, where the unique Coen style can be seen emerging. It was only their second film, coming three years after the Blood Simple, but already their trademark humour and highlighting of the diversity of American communities was evident.

Easily the Brothers funniest film ex-con H.I. (Nicolas Cage) falls in love with the Policewoman who takes his mugshot, it is also giddily uplifting and romanti c. A whirlwind romance ensues, but tragedy strikes their trailerpark paradise as they discover they cant have children, or in H.I. s terms Edwinas insides were a rocky place where my seed could find no purchase. The dimwitted H.I. hatches a plan to kidnap one of the quintuplets recently born to a local unpainted furni ture tycoon, reasoning they wouldnt miss just one. Pretty soon hes trying to exp lain to everyone where the baby has come from, whilst the existential biker from hell is hired to hunt Ed Jnr down. Added to this surreal mix are H.I.s former cellmates who invite themselves to stay and have their own plans for the baby and reward money.

This film is all about excess, from the larger-than-life characters to the ridiculous situations that H.I. manages to get himself into. Even the whooping music score plays along an infectious interplay of banjo and vocals most sublimely u sed in H.I.s ill-fated convenience store robbery. Its a riotous, colourful, offbeat film that shows just what the Coens are capable of.

Review by Claire Devlin
Written for EUFS Programme Autumn 2007

Raising Arizona is one of the Coen brothers' earlier, lesser known gems. It features the same quirky style and humour fans of the Coens will recognise from their more recent films, Fargo and The Big Lebowski, but with even greater lashings of slapstick style stupidity. Basically it's just a really fun, entertaining film.

The plot revolves around a kidnapping plan hatched by childless couple Hi (Nicolas Cage) and Ed (Holly Hunter). Hi and Ed, an unlikely pairing of an ex-con and ex-cop, long for a child but discover that Ed is unable to conceive ("her insides were a rocky place where my seed could find no purchase" is how Hi describes the problem). They decide that their only chance of parenthood is to steal one of the quintuplets of furniture tycoon Nathan Arizona; after all he'll still have another four babies left. So, Hi and Ed steal Nathan Jnr. but of course things don't go entirely to plan. Hi's recently escaped convict friends (John Goodman and William Forsythe) turn up needing a place to hide and end up getting involved in the kidnapping. The plot thickens as countless others, including the Lone Biker of The Apocalypse, become entangled in the quest to own the baby Arizona.

Raising Arizona was the first Coen brothers film I saw, and it got me firmly hooked. The strength of all of the Coen's films is their excellently silly scripts and characters, and this movie certainly doesn't disappoint. Nicolas Cage plays his usual hopeless-male role; it would be easy to criticise him for the lack of variety in his acting, but he plays the part so well in all of his films, this one included, that I can't help but love him.

If you haven't experienced the Coen effect yet (where've you been?), then come along and see this film; I'm sure you'll get hooked. If, like me, you're already snared, I'll see you there!

Review by Sarah Woolner
Taken from EUFS Programme Autumn 1999

The second feature from the Coen Brothers is a film so mind-bogglingly perfect it's spooky. The plot revolves around ex-con Hi McDonnagh (Nicholas Cage) and his prison officer wife Ed (Holly Hunter) who find they can't have children and steal one of a set of local quintuplets. When two of Hi's prison buddies (John Coodman and William Forsythe) escape from jail and hide out in the newlywed's "starter home", Hi's attempts to lead a responsible life collapse, and all hell breaks loose.

A definite front-runner for "Funniest Film of the Last Twenty Years", Raising Arizona belts along at a furious pace. Almost every shot and line of dialogue contains at least one throwaway joke, and these give the film a density which makes its world totally believable. It has dialogue like Jim Jarmusch crossed with Preston Sturges ("'l tried to stand up and fly straight, but it weren't easy with that sonofabitch Reagan in the White House"), camera work like a Roadrunner cartoon, and absolutely amazing comic performances from the entire cast (including the baby - watch out for the car chase).

Never receiving half the attention of certain other young American Independents who concentrate on guns more than laughs, and certainly not a tenth of the attention it deserves, Raising Arizona is faultless the way Bringing Up Baby is faultless. You don't admire its symbolism, you just don't want it to end.

Review by Andrew Abbott
Taken from EUFS Programme 1994-95