Raising Arizona-1987
Starring: Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter
Written By: Joel and Ethan Coen
Directed By : Joel Coen
* * *1/2 (out of 4)
H.I. McDunnough (Call him Hi). A criminal who’s constantly in and out of jail for minor crimes, like armed robbery with an unloaded gun. As soon as he’s paroled, he’s usually right back in. He’s also got a thing for the jail mugshot photographer Ed(wina). On his latest parole, he proposes, and they get married. They’d both like to have a kid, but after multiple attempts, they discover she’s infertile. His criminal record prevents them from being able to adopt.What are they to do?? A rich local couple has just had quintuplets. Hi and Ed spot a newspaper article in which the father jokes they have more than they can handle. Taking that proclamation literally, and desperate to have a child, they plan to steal one of the new babies.
And so sets up an enthralling action comedy from the Coen brothers, masters of the unconventional characters and odd stories that somehow always work. Hi and Ed barely have jobs (Ed resigned from her prison photographer), have almost no money, and live in a trailer park. They make the best of what they have, which is why we like them so much. The Coen brothers care about their characters and they’re situations. Hi and Ed could be looked down upon and laughed at. Since it’s a comedy, the movie could make fun of them. Instead, in “Raising Arizona”, we actually get to know and to like these people and care about what happens. Their hearts are in the right place, even if they don’t do the right things.
Meanwhile, 2 of Hi’s prison friends have broken out, and hide out in his trailer. They’ve got plans on a bank heist, and want to involve Hi. At the same time, a grungy biker hears about the missing baby and thinks he knows where it is. A $25,000 reward has been put out to find the baby as well. That leads to a hilarious chase for who can get their hands on the baby and claim the reward money.
The film has a lot going on, yet it all works, thanks to the skillful Coen brothers. There are a lot of places this could have gone wrong. It all could have been too broad, too ridiculous. The Coens manage to keep it real, and make a pretty good film out of it.
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