Raising Arizona (1987)

Director:

Joel Coen

Writers:

Ethan Coen (written by) &
Joel Coen (written by)

Release Date:

13 March 1987 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Mystery

Tagline:

A comedy beyond belief.

Plot:

When a childless couple of an ex-con and an ex-cop decide to help themselves to one of another family's quintupelets, their lives get more complicated than they anticipated.

Plot Keywords:

Baby | Arizona | Quintuplets | Love | Police

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Nicolas Cage	...	H.I. McDunnough
Holly Hunter	...	Edwina 'Ed' McDunnough
Trey Wilson	...	Nathan Arizona
John Goodman	...	Gale Snoats
William Forsythe	...	Evelle Snoats
Sam McMurray	...	Glen
Frances McDormand	...	Dot
Randall 'Tex' Cobb	...	Leonard Smalls
T.J. Kuhn	...	Nathan Arizona Jr. (as T.J. Kuhn Jr.)
Lynne Kitei	...	Florence Arizona (as Lynne Dumin Kitei)
Peter Benedek	...	Prison Counselor
Charles 'Lew' Smith	...	Nice Old Grocery Man
Warren Keith	...	Younger FBI Agent
Henry Kendrick	...	Older FBI Agent
Sidney Dawson	...	Moses, Ear-Bending Cellmate

Runtime:

94 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:12 | Australia:M | USA:PG-13 (Violence) | Brazil:12 | Argentina:13 | Finland:K-14 | France:U | Sweden:15 | UK:12 (video rating: 2001) | UK:15 (original rating) | USA:PG-13 | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Camelback Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Company:

Circle Films

Trivia:

The shot in which the camera moves in on the mother discovering that Nathan Jr. is gone is a direct homage to The Evil Dead (1981), a film on which Joel Coen was an editor.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Nathan Arizona confronts the couple returning Nathan Jr, he puts his revolver in the crib to pick up the baby. Later on, he puts Nathan Jr. back in the crib but does not get his revolver back out of the crib.

Quotes:

[first lines]
H.I.: [voiceover] My name is H.I. McDonnaugh. Call me Hi.

Movie Connections:

References The Evil Dead (1981)

Soundtrack:

Down In The Willow Garden

pure lunacy

Pure lunacy is what Raising Arizona is. It's got everything you could ask for in a film; kidnapping, jailbreaks, Hell's Angels, explosions and guns, guns guns. Nic Cage is great in the role of a very befuddled conveniance store robber who falls in love with Holly Hunter's Ed. Throw in John Goodman and William Forsythe as a couple of car stealing, bank robbing brothers and you got yourself scenes that will make you giggle when you think back about them. The entire state of Arizona seems trigger happy in the Coen's eyes. Clerks, cops, and crooks pull out firearms and let loose like the finale of the 1812 Overture. Plus, where else can you hear really good yodeling?