Synopsis for
Raising Arizona (1987) More at IMDbPro »

In the Arizona suburbs, Herbert "Hi" McDunnough is a petty criminal with a seeming addiction to robbing convenience stores. He is constantly in and out of jail, but is repeatedly paroled because he never uses live ammunition in his robberies. Each time he returns to prison, he is booked by young policewoman Edwina, nicknamed "Ed." Their unlikely romance blooms, and Hi eventually proposes to her as a free man. They marry, and begin a new life in a trailer home in the desert.

Hi gets a legitimate job and Ed continues her police work, until their desire to have a child consumes their lives. Ed is devastated to learn that she is infertile, and the couple is not permitted to adopt due to Hi's criminal record. While at their lowest, they hear the news of the "Arizona Quints," the quintuplet sons born to local furniture magnate Nathan Arizona. Deducting that the Arizonas have "more than they can handle," Ed and Hi resolve to steal one of the babies to raise as their own. With much pressure from Ed, Hi clambers through a window of the Arizona household and filches one of the children (believed to be the one named Nathan Jr). Though Ed is a bit guilty about upsetting Nathan Jr's birth-mother, she and Hi are overjoyed to finally have a family.

Meanwhile, Hi's prison buddies, brothers Gale and Evelle Snoats, tunnel their way out of jail and arrive at Hi and Ed's trailer seeking shelter. Hi is glad to see his friends, but Ed sees them as bad influences and allows them to only stay a few days out of respect for their friendship with her husband. The brothers seem suspicious when they see the baby, as Nathan Jr's kidnapping had become local news.

Nathan Arizona Sr has enlisted police and detectives to locate his missing son. After being frustrated with the poor attempts of the authorities, he is offered a deal by a visiting bounty hunter called Leonard Smalls. Smalls is a hulking, intimidating, and violent motorcyclist who demands $50,000 from Arizona in exchange for the safe return of Nathan Jr. Arizona does not trust Smalls and threatens to call the police, but Smalls vanishes with the intent of finding the baby and selling him on the black market.

Hi and Ed attempt a "normal" visit with another married couple: Hi's supervisor Glen, and his wife Dot. They arrive at the McDunnough trailer with several poorly-behaving young children, and Glen reveals to Hi that he and Dot are "swingers," and suggests a "wife swap." Hi, infuriated, punches Glen in the face. Later that night, while running an errand with Ed and Nathan Jr, Hi stops into a convenience store and attempts to rob the clerk of cash and a package of diapers for the baby. This leads to an exhausting police chase through the neighborhood, and causes Ed to doubt Hi's potential to change his ways.

The next morning, Glen returns to the trailer to fire Hi, and blackmail him by threatening to call the police (after deducting the baby's true identity). Gale and Evelle overhear this, and resolve to turn the baby in for the reward themselves. They tie Hi to a chair and leave with Nathan Jr, with plans to first rob a hayseed bank in town. Ed returns home, and she and Hi pursue the Snoats brothers to rescue the baby.

Leonard Smalls manages to track Gale and Evelle to Hi's trailer, and then to the bank they plan to rob. The brothers' robbery is successful, but they leave Nathan Jr behind in his car seat by accident. They attempt to speed back and reclaim him, but a dye canister (put in with the money by a bank clerk) explodes in their car, covering them with blue dye. Hi and Ed catch up with them, and get them to reveal Nathan Jr's whereabouts.

Hi and Ed rush to the bank, but Smalls has beaten them there and secured Nathan Jr on the front of his motorcycle. Hi fights with Smalls and undergoes a brutal beating, which gives Ed time to flee with the baby. As he is about to be finished off, Hi pulls the pin from a grenade on Small's vest, obliterating him. A battered Hi returns home.

Ed and Hi decide to return Nathan Jr to his rightful parents, and encounter Nathan Sr as they return the baby to his room. They explain that they simply wanted their own family, that they never wanted to hurt the child, and that they want no reward for his return. Nathan Sr is surprised but sympathetic, and advises the couple to stay together and never give up hope that they may one day have children of their own.

That night, Hi dreams of a brighter future: Evelle and Gale voluntarily return to prison, where they feel most at home. Nathan Jr grows up happily, receiving a football as a Christmas present from "a loving couple who wish to remain anonymous." An elderly couple, presumably Hi and Ed, have a holiday meal with numerous children and grandchildren, suggesting that a family of their own may not be as far off as they thought.