RAISING ARIZONA
A film review by Gary Benson
Copyright 1987 Gary Benson
Copyright for the Civilized World and Canada
CAPSULE: Terrific fun, probably destined to become a cult classic.
This is the most fun I've had at a movie since BRAZIL. (Before BRAZIL, it was SILVER STREAK). That should tell you something about my orientation, so if you *hated* BRAZIL, you can probably stop reading now and assume you're going to loathe RAISING ARIZONA, too.
Comedy movies usually leave me cold. AIRPLANE wasn't funny except when Beaver's mom translated Jive, GHOSTBUSTERS was stupid, and what can be said of REVENGE OF THE NERDS? Ugh. THE HOLY GRAIL was a wasted afternoon, and after seeing all his movies except THREE AMIGOS I've decided that Steve Martin can't do a decent movie. Yes, including DEAD MEN DON'T WEAR PLAID. SILENT MOVIE had its moments, but they were pretty far apart. I've never seen BLAZING SADDLES, although I understand that there are two funny parts: one where a guy slugs a horse, and one where they fart. (I've never found farting to be particularly funny, see.)
So, in RAISING ARIZONA, there is no farting. What there is, is incredible --some of the silliest anti-heroes you would ever hope not to meet, much less see your sister date, in an imbroglio complete with a high speed chase scene (and a detour to pick up a lost package of Huggies), the fragging (!) of a surrealistic bad-ass biker, total morons tunneling out of prison via the main sewer system, and tons of great baby's-eye views of adults.
To me, that's part of the charm of this minor classic. It has an innocence that's believable, a fresh outlook that left me at least wishing it were twice as long. Once the action starts, it never lets go, kind of an Indiana Jones turned inside-out. Yes, but is it ART? Well, I think so. There are some very intelligent comments scattered throughout, accounting in part for my going back for a second look.
For me, this movie represents an accomplishment centered on an internal consistency and logic all its own while taking the stance that *nothing* is sacred. These two qualities are the life-blood of good comedy for me. (Did anyone on the net ever see Madison, Wisconsin's Kentucky Fried Theater do their live rendition of MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR? That had those qualities, as my other favorites mentioned above do.)
In one scene, the hero, H.I., has decided that for the good of his wife, he must leave her. His letter contains archaic words and phrases (like "tarry" and "yon") giving the scene a bathos that is very difficult to describe--we KNOW H.I. doesn't talk like that, so we assume he doesn't have that sort of vocabulary. Or does he?
In another beauty, a Business Man and his Wife share a scene that looks just like a theater set. The perspective is foreshortened, and the furniture placement and even their gestures and "speeches" seem like something Noel Coward (or perhaps Pinter) would have dreamed up while wasted on pig tranqs.
Timing, pacing, camera work, everything is so well done that I got really caught up in the characters, who are a perfect match to the crazy, but still believable, world the movie creates.
If your tastes in humor are a bit offbeat, if you don't mind satire aimed at bewilderingly stupid criminal types, and if you basically like to laugh yourself to tears, you're in for a treat with this one. On the Mark Leeper Network Standard Scale, I give it a +3.7. It would be a +4 except I thought the ending scene was just a bit too drawn-out. But I guess the denouement was worth waiting for, so Hey! Go see it! You'll like it!
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