Raising Arizona

As Screwball as they come

Lover: Taken from IMDB
“A lot of things come together to make this film highly enjoyable; acting, writing, music, pace, directing... It's over-the-top fun. It took me several viewings before it sunk in that the film's base story is about child kidnapping; which is an extraordinarily serious crime. But this film makes you enjoy every minute so it's easy to forget the seriousness of the base story. While I'm not a fan of Nicholas Cage, I thought this was a perfect vehicle for him. Holly Hunter is always excellent, IMHO. Their attention to detail in crafting their characters was on point and thorough."Well alright then." :)”

Short and sweet and fair enough, over the top fun indeed!

Hater: Taken from IMDB
“1st watched 11/21/2008 - (Dir-Joel Coen): Attempted road-runner like comedy falls flat of impressing me as it's plodding pace bored me. Despite my expectations before watching this early Coen brothers film, I was somewhat disappointed with this screwball comedy with strange characters. Nicolas Cage has done this kind of non-acting before in other movies and Holly Hunter isn't a whole lot better. The movie is basically about a couple that wants a child, can't have one and decides to steal one of the quintuplets of a local rich family, obviously because they cant handle five. The antics that revolve around this act with other strange characters like a over-the-top motorcycle bounty hunter and prison mates also get in the act of trying to get the child and the reward money. All in all, the ridiculousness doesn't necessarily make for a very funny movie and I'm sure there have been better movies carrying basically this same premise.”

I think it all comes down to sense of humour; off the wall and over the top comedy is not your cup of tea then you probably wont like this, like this person.

What I thought:
Second in my Coen Brothers double bill was Raising Arizona, the self confessed screw ball comedy which in no way should be taken seriously. As pointed out by one of the reviewers above; the issue of child kidnapping should not be taken lightly, but this is no normal film. The Coens have created appropriately zany characters and Nicholas Cage is a wonder to behold, using his usual crazy eyes and emotive face for comedy rather than an unhinged performance.

In some places I laughed out loud, but the whole film I had a smile on my face. The characters are watchable and have their part to play. It’s not the most intricate of their stories but their dialogue is still second to none. The Biker burning the road as he drives; just one example of the hyper reality used in certain scenes but it all fits wonderfully. So it’s not the funniest film you’ve ever seen but you’ll have fun watching it.