Raising Arizona
Dir Joel Coen
Written by Joel and Ethan Coen
Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, Trey Wilson, John Goodman, William Forsythe, Sam McMurray, Frances McDormand, Randall ‘Tex’ Cobb.
H.I “Hi” McDunnough (Cage), has been in and out of prison his whole life. So much so, he strikes up a friendship with ‘Ed’ (Hunter) one of the police officers who takes his mugshot everytime. They eventually fall in love, and get married. Unable to conceive for a child, and unable to adopt due to Hi’s many arrests, they decide to take one of the five babies recently born to the local tv star ‘Nathan Arizona’ (Wilson).
They, with Nathan Jr, take him home and claim him as their own. But soon, those around them become suspicious of who the baby really is.
Mid 80s comedy and an early work of the usually brilliant Coen brothers, is okay – but far from their best work. There are some fun shots that are ‘homages’ to other films (the tracking shot of Mrs Arizona finding her son missing).
The cast are all great, with Cage as always delivering a unique performance. Hunter is great as Ed, and makes great use of her Southern charm.
Secondary cast Goodman and Forsythe are great as two of Hi’s prison friends, who discover that the married couple kidnapped Nathan Jr. MacMurray and “Mrs Joel Coen” McDormand play some exaggerated locals – and friends of Ed’s who too discover the baby’s identity.
The score, by Coen frequent collaborator Carter Burwell is fun, and makes interesting use of yodelling, as it pairs with the desert Arizona setting.
The screenplay, by the directors is a period of the time, but works well, and feels like it needed the frequent narration from Cage.
3/5
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