RAISING ARIZONA RATING: 10/10 --> Perfecto-mundo
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The Coen brothers have been known to do many different types of movies. BLOOD SIMPLE was their ode to the noir murder mysteries. MILLER'S CROSSING tipped a cap at the stylized gangster flicks. BARTON FINK left much to interpretation and played on the old Hollywood system. THE HUDSUCKER PROXY was their take on the 1950s screwball comedy and FARGO was praised by everyone in the world as the perfect small-town murder fable. Add THE BIG LEBOWSKI to the list, with a combination of all the elements from above, and you've got an awesome career for two extremely private filmmakers. And oh yeah, then there's this movie...
PLOT: A simple-minded small-time crook and cute policewoman fall in love and marry. The loving couple cannot have children of their own so they decide to steal one from a local rich family who recently had quintuplets. Unfortunately for them, it isn't long before everyone else, including two ex-cons, a wife swapping foreman and a nasty bounty hunter, find out about their shenanigans, and try to cash in on their own.
CRITIQUE: A perfect film which improves with age, this movie takes all the various elements needed to create an ideal motion picture and nails them right on the head! Let's start from the top. Delivering a story like nobody's business. This is a wonderfully rich and clever tale filled with many cool characters, classic moments and interpretative showdowns. How I never saw the obvious undertone connection between the "bad ass" Leonard Smalls representing Cage's character's dark side is beyond me, but the more I see the film, the more I realize that much of it is a struggle of Cage's own psyche. But don't mind all that serious interpretation shtuff. This film is just plain out hilariously funny! It roars with originality, features dialogue that should be bronzed and saved for generations to come and marinates it all with a charming score that'll have you humming it for weeks. But that's not even the half of it. Let's talk about the performances. All rock solid! Nicolas Cage showing us what he was all about before he became a "big action star". Quirky, goofy, downtrodden hero with a loving heart and a poetic mind. How could you not love this guy?
Holly Hunter playing the ultimate white trash wifey with a precious soul, while others like John Goodman and Frances McDormand sweeten the pie, stuffing the entire film with memorable performances all around. But there's more. One of the most distinctive features of this film is its impeccably stylized direction. I mean, foggedabouttit! Hand-held cameras running around, crane shots, unbelievable stunt tricks (can anyone explain the knife being thrown in the plank shot?), a classic car chase featuring a pack of Huggies at its end and various wide-lensed sequences used only to accentuate the film's over-the-top fantastical comedy feel. Amazing, just amazing. But the Coen masterpiece wouldn't be complete without a touch of the heartstrings as well. One of the last scenes featuring the husband and wife team overlooking a child's crib gets me every time! Wow. A hilarious romp that manages to poke a hole in our tender side, too? Whatta flick. Add all that to the film's infectious prologue and ambiguous epilogue, and you've got a movie that delivers on all counts and more.
A cool story, classic dialogue, excellent performances, a catchy soundtrack, a unique visual flair, humor, drama, thrills, chases, love, hate and a fantastical element soaking the entire film in a blanket of surrealism. So if you love originality in film, if you love the stylized ventures a la Coen and appreciate well-written words intermixed with slap-stick comedy, check this flick out asap! "There's right and there's right and never the t'wain shall meet." Okay, then.
Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: (Courtesy of the IMDb) The part of Edwinna was written especially for Holly Hunter. The Coen brothers lived with Holly, Sam Raimi and Frances McDormand when they were all first starting out in Hollywood. Of course, Frances and Joel Coen went on to marry in 1984 and recently adopted a baby named Pedro. Joel is the brother who usually gets the "credit" for directing their films, but it is well known that both he and his brother Ethan direct their films together. They also write and produce their films together, and edit most of them under the pseudonym, Roderick Jaynes. The shot in which the camera moves in on the mother discovering that Nathan Jr. is gone is a direct homage to Sam Raimi's EVIL DEAD, a film on which Joel Coen was an editor. The alarm button the clerk presses in the convenience store reads "Odegard-Trend Security." This is the name of the security company in Sam Raimi's CRIMEWAVE, a film the brothers Coen co-wrote with Raimi himself. The character Leonard Smalls (Randall "Tex" Cobb) is a reference to Lenny Small from OF MICE AND MEN. The acronyms "P.O.E" and "O.P.E." spray-painted in the washroom and shown in reverse in the mirror are references to the Stanley Kubrick films DR. STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB and THE SHINING. H.I. can be seen wearing a uniform with the name "Hudsucker Industries" written on it during one of the film's earlier scenes. This is also the name of the company in THE HUDSUCKER PROXY, also by the Coen brothers. When Nathan Arizona is being interviewed one of the microphones has "KOEN" written on it. This is a reference to the filmmakers, the Coen brothers.
Review Date: September 2, 2000 Director: Joel Coen Writers: Joel Coen and Ethan Coen Producer: Ethan Coen Actors: Nicolas Cage as H.I. McDonnough Holly Hunter as Ed McDonnough John Goodman as Gale Genre: Comedy Year of Release: 1987 ------------------------------------- JoBlo's Movie Emporium http://www.joblo.com/ ------------------------------------- (c) 2000 Berge Garabedian
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