I'm a huge Coen Brothers fan, and this may not be my favourite film of theirs, but damn if it isn't the funniest. I think that Nicolas Cage gets a reputation that I honestly feel is slightly unfair. Okay, yeah, I'm not his biggest fan or anything, and yeah some of his performance are absolutely batshit crazy, but I honestly think that he's done some great stuff, with my favourite of his films definitely being Raising Arizona. It's a movie so crazy, so weird and so utterly ridiculous, that I can't help but find it so incredibly funny. The premise alone is absolutely mental. Basically, Hi a thief and Ed, a policewoman get married, and move into a caravan in the desert. They want to have kids, but she's infertile, and they can't adopt because he's a got a criminal record. So they steal a kid. They. Steal. A. Kid. The catch? The baby they steal is one of the area's prized Arizona Quintuplets. Things get more complicated when two of Hi's prison buddies break out and move in with the couple, Hi begins to go back to his old way, his job becomes threatened, and a bounty hunter comes after the two. Yeah, this movie is absolute chaos, but it's hard not to love.
It's this energy that the film has that makes me love it. It's always on the move, constantly escalating, changeng, getting crazier and crazier, until the madcap climax. It's so much fun to watch, and that's where the laughs come in. With a setup like that, you end up with some fantastically odd scenes, or scenes that start normal, and escalate into sheer madness. The best word to describe it is wild, because that's what it is, it's wild, it's unpredictable, and it's so fun. It's like going on a crazy journey, one so unlike anything else you've ever seen, one that you'll probably never get anywhere else. The Coen brothers have this knack for making all of their films completely different in style, tone and plot, and this is undoubtedly there most off the wall film (though it has competition there, trust me.)
This however, is a double edged sword. As fun as the insanity of the plot is, it can make the film somewhat messy. It tends to get carried away in it's own madness, which, yeah, can often be a problem. I don't know, this film can often lose focus because of how crazy it gets, which, yeah, can be so much fun, but also takes away from the plot. And I know, it's a comedy, but this one puts emphasis on the story and characters, and the situations they find themselves in, and some setpieces escalate a little too much. It gets distracting, and takes takes away from the film sometimes for me, which yeah, is definitely my main problem here.
However, the film makes up for it with how much heart it has. Everything in this film always comes back to how much Hi and Ed love each other. Even when they doubt each other throughout the film (which is spectacularly handled by the way), the film remains positive. The ending actually slows down, doesn't deliver any jokes, just wraps up the film in a very sweet, very fitting way. The charm of this film plays into the comedy too. Because of of much focus the film puts on the relationship between each of the characters, it can combine this with it's madcap humour, exaggerating it beyond all belief, which leads to so many fun situations. And equally, the comedy can lend to the more heartwarming moments too particularly when (SPOILER ALERT!) Hi and Ed give the kid back. The oddness and absurdity is pointed out, but it remains a strong story moment. It's little touches like these that cement the Coen Brothers as great filmmakers.
And, Nicolas Cage. Oh boy. Right, well, one thing I can say is that it's one of the few films where he actually plays a character, not himself, and he's good. I'm not a big fan of his trademark style, as fun and over the top as it can be. He proves here that he definitely can be a talented (intentional) comic, delivering some pretty great lines, and some superb physical comedy. So, you know what, forget all the memes, all the weird moments, all the bees, this is a good Nicolas Cage performance. Not a bizarrely exaggerated one, or an unintentionally funny one, a legitimately solid performance. Who knew?
Look, Raising Arizona is a wild ride. One that's fun, crazy and absolutely hilarious. IT gets madder and madder, but always stays fun. Yeah, it loses focus, or gets too wrapped up in it's own antics, but it's anchored down by it's massive heart, good script, and, surprisingly, Nicolas Cage. Give it a watch. Soundtrack's not bad either.
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