Back to Basics: RAISING ARIZONA

Today is another entry for the 1001 Movie Club. This time we’ve chosen The Coen Brothers’ RAISING ARIZONA for your oddball amusement, which was especially fun for me since I’d never seen it before.

More posts about RAISING ARIZONA can be found over at 1001, and my thoughts on the film are below.

For the second time already in this series, I’m writing about a comedy. However this time out, the comedy leans much more to the absurd side of the spectrum. The movie is a crime caper…but it’s unlike most other crime capers in the way that the loot is a living, breathing, pooping bundle of joy. So, it’s a kidnapping picture then, right? Well, not exactly. Our hapless thieves haven’t nabbed the munchkin in the interest of holding him ransom…they genuinely want to take care of him as their own. See, our heroes cannot have one of their own, so when they hear about a couple who has quints, they think “If they have five…how much are they really going to miss one?”. Almost makes sense, doesn’t it?

The brains behind the heist – argue amongst yourselves if we should call him that – is Herbert I. McDunnough (Nicolas Cage). Call him “Hi” for short. Hi has been in and out of the penal system for years. While he’s not exactly ashamed of his misdeeds (he smiles for his mug shots), he’s not exactly proud either. He claims he wants to stay straight, but “That sonofabitch Reagan makes it so hard”. In hindsight, that throwaway line has teeth, since history has shown just how little Reagan was interested in taking care of people below a certain societal line.

Hi does manage to get on the path to righteousness, when he finally woos Officer Edwina (Holly Hunter), and marries her. To his credit, he flies right and becomes a stand-up member of society. It’s only out of love and concern for his new bride’s devastation at the fact that they cannot conceive that sends him back to a life of crime. In that way, RAISING ARIZONA is in a select class…it tells the tale of a crime of nobility. Kinda like Robin Hood without the archery.

What I love most about RAISING ARIZONA is that it captures Nicolas Cage at a different point in his career. Before he was riding with ghosts, and hunting treasures of the national variety, he was known for a wry oddness. He seemingly always carried himself as though he were half baked, and it made for a very effective “Shucks folks” charm. Such qualities are oddly endearing, and help provide for original and memorable characters. Contrast that to his work as an astrophysics professor bent on saving the world in KNOWING. On second though – don’t. Cage has played some truly great characters in his career, Hi McDunnough ranking towards the top. I sincerely wish he’d go back to playing great parts, and think less about cashing paycheques.

The film is one of the essentials in the Coen Brothers lexicon. Since their debut in 1984 with BLOOD SIMPLE, they have been masters at finding the quirkiest looking dog at the pet store, and bringing him to Westminster for us all to admire. RAISING ARIZONA has a manic energy, perhaps best exemplified by one of the wildest police chase scenes you’ll ever watch. The Coens aren’t all that interested in making down-to-earth stories. They shrug at the poetic, and instead give us film after film loaded with the deplorable, the dim, the dastardly, and demented. The funny thing, is that to paraphrase Lester Bangs, embracing all of these misfits makes them poetic.

However, The Coens’ fingerprints on RAISING ARIZONA is part of why the film’s status should come with an asterisk. Their brand of vodka is not for everybody. I for one didn’t really “get them” for a good while. What they present as black and dry, can come across as silly and boring if you aren’t expecting it. Their view on the world might well be best exemplified in a moment where John Goodman as Gale Snoats breaks out of prison. He awkwardly hoists himself out of sludge, and stands triumphant…body dripping in mud and shit. Call it the Anti-Shawshank. Such moments will make some laugh. Such moments will make others reach for the remote.

But Ryan, Is it List-Worthy?… Dear reader – know thyself. This movie has many qualities that make it essential, however it leans very heavily towards being a Cult Classic. Think more HEATHERS and less BREAKFAST CLUB. If you’re in the mood for something off-tempo, put this high on your list. If you’re tastes are strictly for films in 4/4 time, move on to the next film on the list.