What’s this all about?
Raising Arizona tells the story of the ill-fated kidnapping of one of a set of quintuplets. It’s full of wacky characters, like three-time loser stick-up man, H.I. McDunnough (Nicolas Cage), weird lady cop, Ed (Holly Hunter), attempted swinger, Glen (Sam McMurray), and unfinished furniture magnate, Nathan Arizona, Sr. (Trey Wilson).
Along the way, things blow up, cars get chased, places get robbed, and just about everything goes wrong.
It’s much more a wacky hijinks film than it is a heist picture, but there’s a lot going on.
Who is Nick in this one?
Nick plays “H.I. McDunnough” (called “Hi”), a recidivist gas station robber who falls in love with the strange policewoman who is responsible for his repeated bookings. He makes an earnest effort to be a productive member of society and family man, but his baser urges and his background are too much for him to control.
Nick plays this criminal weirdo with amazing nuance. Although the character is undeniably wacky, and finds himself in numerous wacky situations, Nick plays him consistently as a straight man, perplexed by his situation. Frankly, this is the best work we’ve seen out of Cage so far, by a wide, wide margin. Maybe being directed by the Coen Brothers, instead of his Uncle Francis, was a good opportunity.
Who else is in this one?
Holly Hunter plays, “Ed,” (short for Edwina) a stiff, humorless administrative cop who takes fingerprints and mugshots. Again, Hunter plays the role with amazing nuance, taking a character that could easily be stiff, dull, and unlikable, and making her a deep, sympathetic, and interesting character.
We also get to see a young-ish John Goodman as “Gale” and William Forsythe, as “Everett,” a pair of brothers who escape from prison and go on a crime spree. John Goodman is great. He always is. Have you ever seen him not be great? If you were about to say “Blues Brothers 2000,” I’d like to encourage you to rewatch that film with an eye specifically on Goodman, because he’s great in it. Also, you’re a Philistine.
William Forsythe is excellent, too. He plays against type in this, as the younger, dumber, more sensitive brother of the pair, and it works really well.
“Tex” Cobb plays the same character “Tex” Cobb always plays. Fortunately, that’s exactly what this film needed. His portrayal of a creepy bounty hunter/child trafficker is wildly over the top in all the right ways. He looks like he smells terrible. That’s true character, not “Tex” Cobb himself. I’m sure he smells fine in real life, and I’m also fairly sure that at age 70, he could still kick my butt.
Veteran character actor M. Everett Walsh gets a tiny role playing every old man at every workplace ever. I’ve always enjoyed his work, and he fits in perfectly here.
Sofia Coppola does not make an appearance in this film, because she is not related to anyone responsible for casting decisions.
Did you see that?
OK, bear with me for a minute.
I watch a lot of bad movies intentionally (see The Nicholas Cage Project for evidence).
That makes it easy for me to forget that cinema is an art form. This movie is art. The Coen brothers masterfully tell an engaging story with an undeniable style. I’m sure that they are pulling from a wide range of influences, but one that didn’t escape me was the scene near the end which literally looks like something drawn from a Looney Tunes roadrunner cartoon. I have to think this was very intentional, as much of the action in this movie is cartoonish.
This isn’t a slight, or a complaint. I loved the juxtaposition of a serious story about downtrodden people struggling in a miserable place with the almost Chuck Avery-like action. -Michael
Michael is so right, but for me the best scene for just plain visual effect is when John Goodman digs his way out of prison. On a dark and rainy night he bursts up through a muddy field like a vampire being born. Then reaches into the mud behind him and pulls out his brother by his ankle. It’s like the inverse of Achilles being dipped in the river Styx. -Sarah
What were Nick’s best parts?
In keeping with my earlier rant about the cartoonish action, there’s a scene in which Hi (Cage) attempts to physically fight Gale (Goodman) inside Hi’s “modest starter home,” absolutely destroying the place in the process.
Goodman is a much larger man than Cage, and Nick really plays the small-guy-fighting-for-his-life wonderfully. Again, Cage achieves an absolutely wild slapstick scene that is undeniably hilarious, while playing it all beautifully straight. -Michael
OMG! Yes! That was a fantastic scene. It had me on the edge of my seat. On top of being very well acted, the camera effects were incredible and just elevated the watchers’ experience. There were so many unusual camera angles, but my favorite was when John Goodman was twirling Nick above him in a helicopter spin. The camera was on top of Nick twirling with him, giving you his point of view. Just fantastic! -Sarah
What were Nick’s worst parts?
Honestly, it’s difficult for me to find a bad scene, here. Usually, I can come up with a scene where Cage shouts erratically for no real reason, or just a scene that doesn’t do anything. I’m not finding that in this one.
The best that I can do is the brief scene in which Ed (Hunter) reminds Gale (Goodman) and Everett (Forsythe) that they need to make themselves scarce later in the day, as Ed and Hi will have visitors. Hi tries to excuse himself from the visitors at the same time, and fails. Cage comes across as a weasel, trying to get out of a familial responsibility, which doesn’t really fit the character. The following scenes, however, illustrate Hi’s understandable distaste for the coming event. -Michael
I don’t care what you say, there were no badly acted scenes here. Nick banged this one out at peak performance the entire way through. He should have gotten some sort of award for it, or at least been nominated. -Sarah
How was the movie?
As I said before, this movie is an example of film as art. It’s not good. It’s fantastic. Every scene adds something to the well-told story. The characters develop and change throughout the film. Characters have depth and nuance. The film is also wonderfully frenetic and chaotic, and the visuals are striking.
The sound track is largely made up of a rambling, frantic banjo piece which features the yodelling melody from The Sons of The Pioneers “Way Out There” and Beethoven’s Fifth that swells and turns, and fades in and out perfectly. If that isn’t art, then I don’t know what is. -Michael
Agree completely! 100% -Sarah
Yeah, but did you like it? (Michael/Sarah)
I’ve rambled at length about the artfulness and intentionality of this film. It’s also worth mentioning that I laughed my ass off through the whole thing. It’s fun. It’s entertaining. It’s the best Nicolas Cage movie so far by a country mile. -Michael
It was okay. 🤪 -Sarah
Where can I watch it?
You can rent it on YouTube and Amazon and Apple and Google.
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