Holly Hunter and Nicolas Cage are H.I. and Edwina McDunnough, a newlywed couple in Arizona. He's a recently released ex-convict; she's the parole officer he fell in love with (and, obviously, vice versa). After moving into their own home, they try to have a child but they enter two roadblocks to that: she's infertile, and his criminal record means they can't adopt. So what's an unhappily childless couple to do? They steal one, of course. But not just any baby: one of the quintuplets belonging to local retail magnate Nathan Arizona (Trey Wilson). Soon later H.I.'s former cellmate Gale and Evelle Snoats (John Goodman and William Forsythe) escape from prison and go on the run, ultimately persuading H.I. and Edwina to take them in. The two fugitive houseguests just exacerbate matters when a manhunt begins for the McDunnoughs.
Before Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou? and No Country for Old Men, Ethan and Joel Coen had their first hit in 1987 with this riotously funny and very offbeat crime caper. A deliberately lighthearted departure from their debut Blood Simple, the Coens clearly enjoyed unveiling their quite distinctive sense of humour for the first time and it only gets stronger as the movie progresses. The title may be Raising Arizona but the Coens end up having their protagonists raise hell more than anything else, much like the Coens themselves, who've carved their own niche out of modern American cinema. Here they've hatched a perfectly appropriate opposites-attracting romance that literally hits the road, where the energy and pacing kicks into high gear. Cage (love or hate him) is entertainingly bumbling but Hunter is the movie's heart and soul, bringing both laughs and emotion effectively to the forefront. Forsythe and especially Goodman back them up solidly also.
Before Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother, Where Art Thou? and No Country for Old Men, Ethan and Joel Coen had their first hit in 1987 with this riotously funny and very offbeat crime caper. A deliberately lighthearted departure from their debut Blood Simple, the Coens clearly enjoyed unveiling their quite distinctive sense of humour for the first time and it only gets stronger as the movie progresses. The title may be Raising Arizona but the Coens end up having their protagonists raise hell more than anything else, much like the Coens themselves, who've carved their own niche out of modern American cinema. Here they've hatched a perfectly appropriate opposites-attracting romance that literally hits the road, where the energy and pacing kicks into high gear. Cage (love or hate him) is entertainingly bumbling but Hunter is the movie's heart and soul, bringing both laughs and emotion effectively to the forefront. Forsythe and especially Goodman back them up solidly also.
More pluses are regular Coens composer Carter Burwell's fittingly bluegrass-tinged score and Michael R. Miller's very precise editing. Raising Arizona certainly isn't a recommended movie if you need to learn about responsible parenting, but it certainly is one if you need to see a funny crime comedy.
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