RAISING ARIZONA. Directed by Joel Coen; written by Ethan and Joel Coen; produced by Ethan Coen for Twentieth Century Fox. Starring Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunter. Rated PG-13 (some very mild vulgar language and a little comic-book violence).
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Not everyone will want to see Raising Arizona. And, probably not everyone who sees it will like it. But those who do see it and like it will probably like it so much that it's bound to be—at least—a cult favorite for years to come.
The reason for the limited appeal is that this movie is more than just a little bit weird. It is peopled by bizarre caricatures of such types as obnoxious salesmen, empty-headed housewives, petty crooks and dirty bikers (although, at least as far as the two main characters are concerned, they're sympathetic caricatures).
If anything, the plot is even further off-the-wall than the people. Involving infertility, baby stealing and convenience store robberies, it hardly sounds like the stuff of comedy. But a terrific comedy is what it is.
Even the style of moviemaking here is strange and eccentric. Director Coen must have the most energetic camera in the business. From baby point-of-view shots to lightning-fast zooms to cameras on the ceiling, the cinematic style fits in beautifully with the outrageous story most of the time. But it occasionally calls more attention to itself than is proper.
It's hard to say just exactly what kind of movie Raising Arizona is. Definitely funny, it also contains a visionary sub-current. These dreams of heaven and hell intertwine with the already outlandish reality, and make the movie mean more than its wacky surface at first suggests. A satire on the constant trumpeting about "family values," it also reveals a genuine sympathy for the yearnings that make those values so enduring.
Hi (that's a person's nickname, from the initials H.I., and he's played with looney brilliance by Cage) is a three-time loser, at least. He gets to see the police officer who takes the mug shots so often that he falls in love with her.
The attraction is mutual and Ed (for Edwina, the lady cop, played completely straight by Hunter) accepts Hi's marriage proposal ... and his promise to stop robbing convenience stores.
Blissfully happy in the Arizona desert, all Hi and Ed need to complete the American dream is a child. (They have a motor home.) But Ed is infertile and they don't let ex-cons adopt.
Enter Nathan Arizona, Unpainted Furniture King of the Southwest (Trey Wilson), who has five babies after his wife took fertility drugs. He can't possibly miss just one, Hi and Ed reason. So they steal Nathan Jr. (they think—even Papa's not sure they didn't get Barry, Garry, Harry or Larry) and try to raise him as their own.
Cage and Hunter are wonderful as the hapless Hi and Ed. She is stoic, hysterical, strong-willed and pathetic by turns, with an accent that's hard to believe. Hi is the star of the show, though. Add to his dingy, laid-back vulnerability a distinctly poetic spirit and a basic decency, and the result is a true comic original. Perhaps another actor could have played Hi as well, but it's difficult to imagine, with Cage's dopey expression, his voice (sounding as if he's just about to drop off to sleep in mid-sentence), and his wild hair. He's just terrific.
Raising Arizona is radically different in tone and storyline from the Coen brothers' first movie, the excellent murder mystery Blood Simple. But the versatile Coens have done equally well here. I wonder what they will try next.
NOTE: this movie made my 10-best list for 1987.
April 15, 1987