RAISING ARIZONA
A film review by Jeff Meyer
Copyright 1987 Jeff Meyer
Alright, new approach: I liked RAISING ARIZONA. Laughed throughout it. Wanted to write down quotes from it (this film has enough for three movie quizzes in it). Absolutely the best "zany" film to come along in two years, and the finest slapstick I've seen since THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY. But I came out realizing that I knew a lot of people who weren't going to like this. So, rather than review the film listing the aspects that make the film appealing, I'm running through points which might dissuade a viewer from enjoying this film:
WARM HUMAN COMEDY: This isn't the Huxtables here, folks. This isn't even Woody Allen's family in HANNAH AND HER SISTERS. The Coens (writer/directors of RAISING ARIZONA) are not trying to have you leave the theater imagining how pleasant it would be to have dinner with the protagonists; having dinner with H.I. and his wife and their house-guests would probably be the most dangerous social visit of your entire lifetime. However, these characters have a movie screen between them and us, and this certainly allows the viewer a certain emotional distance, i.e. you can laugh your ass off about what happens to them. We're going for yoks here -- rude yoks, satirical yoks, farcical yoks, and just plain gut-busting Friday night yoks. If your diet requires some emotional attachment to the main characters (say more than 30%), then perhaps you should skip it. However, if you're a comedy mercenary, giving no quarter and taking none, this is meat & potatoes.
UNDERSTATED COMEDY: Really like subtlety in your humor, eh? Prefer the understated, symbolic approach to comedy? Have an oil portrait of Noel Coward hanging in your library? Better avoid RAISING ARIZONA like the plague. Not that the humor is crude -- it's not. As a person who believes that the world would be a far better place if every print of PORKY'S and its sequels were buried in a Hanford nuclear waste site, I am in opposition of stupid humor as much as the next mutant. The jokes here are not stupid, but their not wearing much in the way of formal wear, either. They're not going to politely knock on your door and ask if they can borrow your expensive brown mustard; they're going to trudge in through the back door, grab a beer out of the fridge and sprawl out over the couch. And you're going to be happy they did, unless you're picky about these sort of things.
JET PLANES WITH ACCOMPANYING ROCK MUSIC: No, sorry, no jet planes in this film. Some of the characters do talk like Goose, though.
DON'T FIND BABIES OR PEOPLE WITH THICK SW ACCENTS AMUSING: Gosh, I'm not one of those people you see in the Magic Mushrooms commercials, but I have to admit that the lil' tykes in this flick are just Gosh-Darned cute. And I do find those accents amusing. I'm from Iowa, and no one ever saw fit to give ME an accent. Well, nobody ever said life was going to be fair.
HATE SLAPSTICK: Well, considering how much bad slapstick there are in movies today, I can understand your reservation. However, this is really good slapstick. There is a 10-minute chase scene in the middle of this film which should be used to teach both chase scene dynamics and visual joke-telling. Absolutely wonderful.
CAN'T STAND TO HEAR BACH PLAYED ON A BANJO: Look, if Bach hasn't complained about it, what are you bitching about?
Well, I hope this has helped you to make up your mind. I really liked RAISING ARIZONA. I think you will, too.
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
INTERNET: moriarty@fluke.COM
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