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Raising Arizona

EMAIL PRINT20th Century Fox

8.9 User Score:

Mixed or average reviews

Based on 13 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?

Based on 13 votes
Read user comments
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Movie Info

Genre(s): Comedy

Written by: Ethan Coen
Joel Coen

Directed by: Joel Coen
Ethan Coen

Release Date:
Theatrical: March 13, 1987
DVD: August 3, 1999

Running Time: 94 minutes, Color

Origin: USA

Summary

RATING: PG-13

Starring Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, Trey Wilson, John Goodman, William Forsythe, Sam McMurray, Frances McDormand, and Randall 'Tex' Cobb

A surreal, hyperactive farce in which a bumbling petty thief and the lady cop who keeps arresting him fall in love and decide to start a family. When they discover they can't have babies, they steal one from a furniture mogul who has just sired a set of quintuplets. The joys of parenthood are soon marred, however, by the difficulties of raising an infant on the run. The none-too-bright couple must flee across the southwestern desert in order to elude the villainous biker that has been hired to retrieve the tyke. (20th Century Fox)

Also On Metacritic

FILM: Barton Fink Blood Simple: The Director's Cut Burn After Reading Fargo Intolerable Cruelty Miller's Crossing No Country for Old Men O Brother, Where Art Thou? The Big Lebowski The Hudsucker Proxy The Ladykillers The Man Who Wasn't There

Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database Official Studio Site

What The Critics Said

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Washington Post Rita Kempley

It is a wacky, happy, daring, darkly comic tale of parenting outside the law. It celebrates the middle-of-the-road dreams of decidedly off-center folks. It's a bundle of joy.

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Time Richard Corliss

To their old fascination with Sunbelt pathology, to their side-winding Steadicam and pristine command of screen space, the Coens have added a robust humor, a plot that keeps outwitting expectations and a surprising dollop of sympathy for their forlorn kidnapers. [23 March 1987]

The New Yorker Pauline Kael

Raising Arizona is no big deal, but it has a rambunctious charm. The sunsets look marvelously ultra-vivid, the pain doesn't seem to be dry – it's like opening day of a miniature golf course. [20 Apr 1987, p.81]

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

The whole caper loses its rhythm and its direction around the two-thirds mark. By the finish, the punch has left the lines, and the once-purposeful energy goes mindlessly manic - gone are both the point and the parody.

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TV Guide Staff (Not Credited)

Cage creates a homey and thoroughly likable character who earns the respect of the audience, but Hunter is the real surprise. Appearing in her first starring role, the stage veteran displays so much energy that she forces the audience to pay attention.

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Variety Staff (Not Credited)

As leisurely and disconnected as "Blood Simple" was taut and economical. While film is filled with many splendid touches and plenty of yocks, it often doesn't hold together as a coherent story.

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Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

[The Coen Brothers] sweat and strain to deliver more of the same cinematic ingenuity, but the result seems more nervous than inspired. Relax, fellas! [13 Mar 1987]

The New York Times Vincent Canby

Like "Blood Simple," it's full of technical expertise but has no life of its own... The direction is without decisive style. [11 Mar 1987, p.C24]

Chicago Tribune Dave Kehr

Quickly and fatally, the overlooked form peels away from the slight, frail content, and the film starts to look like an episode of "Hee Haw" directed by an amphetamine-crazed Orson Welles. [20 March 1987]

Wall Street Journal Julie Salamon

These fraternal film makers have a lot of imagination and sense of fun - and, most of all, a terrific sense of how to manipulate imagery... But sometimes they seem to be getting too big a kick out of their own shenanigans. By the end, the fun feels a little forced. [26 Mar 1987, p.34(E)]

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

What Raising Arizona needs more than anything else is more velocity. Here's a movie that stretches out every moment for more than it's worth, until even the moments of inspiration seem forced.

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Los Angeles Times Sheila Benson

The astonishing thing about Raising Arizona is how it can move so fast, be so loud, and ramain so relentlessly boring at the same time. [20 Mar 1987]

San Francisco Chronicle Peter Stack

The big trouble with Raising Arizona is that the Coens overdrew their wild and crazy yarn, and overdo almost every gag and gimmick. [20 Mar 1987]

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this movie is 8.9 (out of 10) based on 13 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Jared C gave it a6:
It's a sweat film to start their directing career, the Coens did a profound job with Cages superb performance. Everything fine, just the visual never quite came to me and I was practically waited for something to happen but nothing did.

Cassian J gave it a9:
Wow this film just gets better with age. This is a classic movie which proves that script and character will always give you more than any amount of dollars thrown at a movie. This is classic Coen brothers’ territory here. Great characters populating a simple yet effective story with a script to die for. The simple premise of the story is the couple of perennial petty criminal HI and police officer Ed who can not have a child so decide to steal one of the children of the wife of a local successful business man who has just had quintuplets. But that is only half the story we get introduced a multitude of magnificent quirky supporting chahrcters along the way who each bring something special to the movie including an early supporting role from the always superb Francis McDormand.) For me this along with ‘Wild at Heart’ is Nicolas Cage’s two finest performances. He brings great aloofness and swagger to the character of HI (another great Coen brother’s character name) and the Coens reciprocate Cage’s performance by letting the camera love him. Cage is supported greatly by Holly Hunter with other great performances such as another Coen brother’s favourite John Goodman. The film is superbly on what was clearly a small budget but that probably only enhances the overall quality of the move and if anything has aided the ageing process. This is a must for movie fans and a must own for Coen brothers fans.

Justin T gave it a10:
A strange funny film. Without a doubt my favorite non "Goof-Ball" comedy out there.

Anne B. gave it a10:
Brilliant, even after about 100 viewings. Since seeing this all-time family favorite, I never miss a Coen brothers movie.

John G. gave it a9:
Close to a classic film. Critics tend to overthink the plot, the humor, and story to their own disenchantment. It's Arizona circa 1984 with a twist of Easy Rider, an atmosphere of lingering Goldwater & earthy individualism all marinated in original comedic advances. Enjoy it!

Aaron S. gave it a10:
One of the five funniest movies of all time. That loud sound is the movie's brilliance zooming over the long-forgotten L.A. Times critic's head. But apparently she wasn't alone. Inexplicable.

Jay G. gave it a10:
It taps into a part of american redneck culture; and hence comedy- trailers, lawn chairs, country accents, shot guns, and still there is something very human and endearing in the characters and story. A very colorful, hilarious movie.