Raising Arizona

(1987)

"A comedy beyond belief."

"Raising Arizona" is one of what I consider to be the five instantly classic films by the team of Ethan and Joel Coen, the others being "Blood Simple", "Fargo", "Oh Brother Where Are Thou", and "The Big Lebowski".

But "Raising Arizona" is my personal favorite, and one the most quotable films I have ever seen, with some of the best dialogue ever written for film.

I usually watch "Raising Arizona" at least once a year, and was just about in the mood to see it again when I happened to be waiting in a very slowly-moving line at my cell phone provider's store, and out of the blue, a man behind me asked me if I'd ever been to Green Bay. I replied "No, why?" He said I looked exactly like someone he knew there. I replied, "No, never been. But in the late 1980's a lot of people told me I looked like Holly Hunter in "Raising Arizona". (I am almost the same height, age, frame of build, somewhat similar facial features and general mannerisms, I also wore my hair like hers back then, and she's from Georgia and I'm from North Carolina, so we have similar accents.) His face lit up at the mention of the film, and he said to me:

"They've got a name for people like you. That name is 'Recidivism.'"

To which I immediately retorted: "That ain't me any more, no sir".
and the exchange went on...
"You're not just telling us what we want to hear?"
"No, sir, no way."
"Cause we just want to hear the truth."
"Well, then I guess I am telling you what you want to hear."
"Boy, didn't we just tell you not to do that?"
"Yes, sir."
"Okay, then."

We continued our "Raising Arizona" quotefest with each other, as I spouted out lines such as "Ah'm BARREN!!" (with the appropriate Holly Hunter facial expression) and "Yew go back in there and git me a youngun! They GOT more than they can handle!" While he came back with lines such as "Why are you lookin' for my son in the one place I know he ain't AT?!?"

...as the other people in line just looked at us as if we were crazy, except for one woman who daintily stepped forward and asked us "Uhm, I need to see a really funny movie. What's that one?"

In unison: "Raising Arizona!"

The story in brief: H.I. (Nicholas Cage) and "Ed" (Holly Hunter, in one of my favorite roles of hers) portray, respectively, an ex-con and a cop who meet when he keeps getting arrested for robbing convenience stores. They fall in love, get married, decide that "there is just too much love" between them, and they need a "critter to share it with". Upon finding that "Edwina's insides were a rocky place" where H.I.'s "seed could find no purchase", they try to adopt, but are turned down because of H.I.'s record. Then they read in the newspaper about local unpainted furniture storeowner Nathan Arizona (Trey Wilson), owner of "Unpainted Arizona", and his wife having quintuplets as a result of fertility pills, and who joke that "They got more than they can handle". The couple hatch a plan to take one of the babies and raise it as their own.

What results is an ongoing, fast-paced, hilarious set of misadventures, complicated by the appearance of a ruthless, heartless outlaw named Leonard Smalls (Randall "Tex" Cobb) Nathan Arizona hires to find the missing baby, and two felon friends from H.I.'s past (John Goodman and William Forsythe), who make a childbirth-like escape from prison. Sam McMurray (the smarmy dad in "Drop Dead Gorgeous") is H.I.'s....smarmy boss, Glen. Frances McDormand (real-life spouse of Joel Coen, and star of other Coen films such as "Blood Simple" and "Fargo") is his excitable wife Dot. M. Emmet Walsh ("Blood Simple") has a scenery-chewing cameo role as H.I.'s talkative co-worker.

When Ed finally opens up her 5'2" can of Southern-fried whup-ass, throwing her badge to the dirt, striding towards Leonard Smalls as she bellows with all her might, "Gimme back that baby, you warthog from HELL!!!" I always fling my arms up and shout "You go girl! Kick his ass!"

And the way Hunter cries is hilarious.

Holly Hunter was great in this role, as one would expect. She's a very talented actress, in both serious and comedic roles.

Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunter made a great onscreen couple, Cage with his hair standing out in every direction, looking like a hapless, browbeaten puppy half of the time, and Hunter as his diminuitive firecracker of a wife who loves him and tries to keep him honest (oh yeah except for that little kidnapping excursion).

I could go on and on about this film but suffice to say that so far I haven't met anyone who didn't find "Raising Arizona" hilarious. And as any great Coen brothers film, it has a certain mythic quality that's hard to describe, but is present all of of the brothers' best efforts. When I was single, I often used Coen brothers films as a barometer of sorts for prospective boyfriends. For instance, I remember seeing "Fargo" on a first date, and when we came out of the theater, the guy (whose name I have since forgotten anyway) remarked "Huh, I didn't think much of that", while I was thinking how blown away I was by the film! I immediately thought to myself "So much for him! This relationship won't last long."

For more great Coen comedy, check out "Oh Brother Where Art Thou" (2000), which is loosely based on Homer's epic poem "The Odyssey". Another great Coen comedy is "The Big Lebowski" (1998), which also includes my favorite singer/songwriter Aimee Mann in a brief cameo, and boasts a cult following that has resulted in an annual "Lebowskifest" for fans of the film.

"Blood Simple" (1984) is probably my favorite film noir modern-day classic tale of lust and betrayal, and is my personal second-favorite Coen brothers film. "Fargo" (1996), which won the Screenwriting Oscar, and an Oscar for Frances McDormand, is another must-see Coen classic.