Raising Arizona (1987)

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.

Director:

Joel Coen

Writers:

Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Stars:

Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, Trey Wilson

1 win & 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

Storyline

Recidivist hold-up man H.I. McDonnough and police woman Edwina marry, only to discover they are unable to conceive a child. Desperate for a baby, the pair decide to kidnap one of the quintuplets of furniture tycoon Nathan Arizona. The McDonnoughs try to keep their crime secret, while friends, co-workers and a feral bounty hunter look to use Nathan Jr. for their own purposes.

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Plot Keywords:

baby | arizona | quintuplets | bounty hunter | kidnapping | 

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Taglines:

A comedy beyond belief.

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Genres:

Comedy

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Certificate:

PG-13

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 March 1987 (USA)

Also Known As:

Arizona Junior

Filming Locations:

Camelback Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$6,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

$22,847,564 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Circle Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

94 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The prison counselor at the beginning of the film wears a Chai on his necklace. Chai is a Hebrew word and symbol that means "life," and is pronounced as if you were saying "hi" in English. Nicolas Cage's character "H.I." is called "Hi" throughout the film.

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Goofs

In the picnic scene, where Dot and Ed are talking about the DIP/TET booster shots, Dot is squirting mustard on four pieces of bread. Yet when you see the bread a few camera shots later, the mustard squirts are different from the original designs Dot spread earlier.

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Quotes

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

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Crazy Credits

Baby Wrangler

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Connections

References The Adventures of Ozzie & Harriet (1952)

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Soundtracks

"Home On The Range"
Performed by Phil "Dusty" Stockton
Courtesy of Outdoorsman Records

User Reviews

overrated

I really don't understand the appeal of this film. I truly like many of the Coen brothers films (Barton Fink, Fargo), but It just seems like everyone in the film is trying way to hard to be funny. I especially loathe the characters that are brothers (John Goodman) who escape from prison and the pointless subplot of the deranged hell's angel. Maybe It's just me. A lot of people I know say this is the funniest film they have EVER seen. I wanted to like it but with every character in the film screaming out lines with effected voices made me want to just shut it off. I will say that the technical work, like in most of their films is fantastic but this one just does not work for me.