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Raising Arizona

  • 1987
  • PG-13
  • 1h 34m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
156K
YOUR RATING
POPULARITY
2,845
141
Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter in Raising Arizona (1987)
'Raising Arizona' turns 35! Here's a look back at our favorite moments from Joel and Ethan Coen's iconic crime comedy, starring Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, and John Goodman.
Play clip1:18
Watch 'Raising Arizona' | Anniversary Mashup
4 Videos
99+ Photos
CaperSlapstickComedyCrime

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

  • Directors
    • Joel Coen
    • Ethan Coen
  • Writers
    • Ethan Coen
    • Joel Coen
  • Stars
    • Nicolas Cage
    • Holly Hunter
    • Trey Wilson
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.3/10
    156K
    YOUR RATING
    POPULARITY
    2,845
    141
    • Directors
      • Joel Coen
      • Ethan Coen
    • Writers
      • Ethan Coen
      • Joel Coen
    • Stars
      • Nicolas Cage
      • Holly Hunter
      • Trey Wilson
    • 384User reviews
    • 68Critic reviews
    • 69Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 4 nominations total

    Videos4

    Raising Arizona
    Trailer 2:20
    Raising Arizona
    'Raising Arizona' | Anniversary Mashup
    Clip 1:18
    'Raising Arizona' | Anniversary Mashup
    'Raising Arizona' | Anniversary Mashup
    Clip 1:18
    'Raising Arizona' | Anniversary Mashup
    'Buster Scruggs': The Coen Bros.' Misunderstood, Misanthropic Masterwork
    Clip 3:23
    'Buster Scruggs': The Coen Bros.' Misunderstood, Misanthropic Masterwork
    A Guide to the Films of the Coen Brothers
    Clip 1:56
    A Guide to the Films of the Coen Brothers

    Photos185

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    Top cast59

    Edit
    Nicolas Cage
    Nicolas Cage
    • H.I. McDunnough
    Holly Hunter
    Holly Hunter
    • Ed
    Trey Wilson
    Trey Wilson
    • Nathan Arizona, Sr.
    John Goodman
    John Goodman
    • Gale
    William Forsythe
    William Forsythe
    • Evelle
    Sam McMurray
    Sam McMurray
    • Glen
    Frances McDormand
    Frances McDormand
    • Dot
    Randall 'Tex' Cobb
    Randall 'Tex' Cobb
    • Leonard Smalls
    T.J. Kuhn
    T.J. Kuhn
    • Nathan Junior
    • (as T.J. Kuhn Jr.)
    Lynne Kitei
    Lynne Kitei
    • Florence Arizona
    • (as Lynne Dumin Kitei)
    Peter Benedek
    Peter Benedek
    • Prison Counselor
    Charles 'Lew' Smith
    • Nice Old Grocery Man
    Warren Keith
    Warren Keith
    • Younger FBI Agent
    Henry Kendrick
    Henry Kendrick
    • Older FBI Agent
    Sidney Dawson
    • Ear-Bending Cellmate
    Richard Blake
    • Parole Board Chairman
    Troy Nabors
    • Parole Board Member
    Mary Seibel
    • Parole Board Member
    • Directors
      • Joel Coen
      • Ethan Coen
    • Writers
      • Ethan Coen
      • Joel Coen
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews384

    7.3155.8K
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    Featured reviews

    8blazesnakes9

    One of the funniest comedies I've seen in a long time

    When I first heard of Raising Arizona, I was 8 years old. I was spending a weekend with my dad and it was on a Friday night. Usually when I see a movie for the first time on television, I either direct my attention to the screen to see what it is or direct my attention to something that I was doing. I came in right in the middle of the movie and I didn't know what it was about and I certainly didn't understand the concept behind it. But, I do remember laughing and having a good time while watching this movie. Now, looking back on it, it still makes me laugh even harder and longer.

    The story centers around a convict/loser named H.I. McDunnough, (Nicholas Cage). His friends called him Hi. For the last several years, Hi has been robbing convenience stores and ending up in the slammer. After three times, Hi decides to go straight. He seeks the attraction of a pretty cop named Edwina "Ed" McDunnough, (Holly Hunter). Soon after, Hi and Ed get married. But, there's just one problem. They want to raise a family. So, the couple decides to keep trying. But according to a local gynecologist, Ed is infertile, meaning that she can't have kids. According to Hi's perspective, he can't "plant his seed" into Ed. Hopeless, the couple decides to steal one of the Arizona quints. One night, Hi and Ed steal one of the quints from a very wealthy businessman, (Sam McMurray), who owns a furniture store in Arizona.

    As the movie progresses, the humor starts to kick in when the local police and the F.B.I. conduct a manhunt on the missing quint. Meanwhile, two prisoners, (John Goodman and William Forsythe), escaped from prison and take shelter in Hi's home. But, the two prisoners want Hi to go along with them to pull off a heist. While that is going, another character comes walking into the story. An deranged and hellish lone motorcycle driver, (Randall 'Tex' Cobb), enters the story through Hi's dreams and his job is to find the quint and find the people who stole him.

    You can see that the movie is quite ambitious for its own kind. To tell you the truth, it is. This is the first comedy being made by the always entertaining movie-making duo, Joel and Ethan Coen. Their movies never ceased to amaze me. They have really carved out a reputation of movie- making with their witty scripts and their zany approach to a story. What surprises me is that this movie is actually their first comedy. Before the Coen brothers made Raising Arizona, they wrote and direct a very dark and violent neo-noir film, Blood Simple, which was released three earlier. This is quite surprising because Blood Simple was a very serious and sometimes bloody film that had a lot of twists and turns in it.

    Here, it's a change of pace. How they were to pull this one off is something that strikes me dumb. Watching the movie, I found myself laughing more than ever since I now understand the themes involved. One of the funniest scenes that I saw and it is the most significant one is when Cage's character robs a convenience store and disguised himself by putting pantyhose on his head. This plan doesn't since his wife leaves him behind, having him deal with the trigger-happy clerk and the police. The chase goes all over the place with Cage being chased by the clerk, the police and a pack of dogs. Even in the middle of the chase, Cage is even given a lift with an screaming hayseed driver. The way the chase sequence is shot makes it seems that the chase is being played as a cartoon. Maybe that's why the scene made me laugh the first time around. It's that sense of wacko humor that generates a laugh out of the audience. Not only the film's humor made me laugh, but toward the end of the movie, there's a bittersweet sense that ties the movie together with the characters trying hard to have a family.

    The writing by the brothers is very funny and even the performances by Cage, Hunter, Goodman and even Forsthye are excellent. I did believe that Nicholas Cage was really Hi. The fact that he sports a mustache and a dopey appearance when he is getting his mugshot done is very funny and also interesting.

    I'm not really a big fan of comedies because most of them are done pretty badly and never seem to hit me with their humor. That is true in today's movies. In today's movies, you can get away with everything. You can get a kick out of a audience that admired slapstick humor or bathroom humor. I understand that perspective. But, I enjoyed watching comedies that have funny dialogue in it. i believe that if you can make an audience laugh out loud with the dialogue, then that can be funny alone. The Coen brothers know how to generate a laugh out of the audience with their style of writing.

    Even in the today world, the Coen brothers are still going strong. Last year, they written and directed the Oscar-nominated picture, Inside Llewyn Davis. The brothers seem to really be shifting gears according to the genres. They can frightened you and tantalizes you with Blood Simple. They can make you laugh with Raising Arizona. They can compel you with Miller's Crossing. And they can jolt you with The Big Lebowski. I wonder what they're going to do next. ★★★ 1/2 3 1/2 stars.
    10Sandcooler

    Brilliant oddball comedy

    There are really few directors that are as consistent as the Coen brothers. Their strange sense of humour just works in every movie they make, and it's extremely fun and addictive. With that said, it's difficult to decide which of their movies is the best, but this one is a worthy contender. It's incredibly outrageous, wild and crazy, but at the same time it's close and heart-warming. It has a very surreal look, yet the emotional scenes still look very genuine, which is quite an achievement. The characters are also vintage Coen, they're all offbeat and weird, but that just raises more sympathy for them. It also helps that they all express themselves through some razor-sharp dialogues. I could barely make out the lines because I was too busy laughing at the previous lines, you wonder where these keep coming from. This movie just isn't like anything I've ever seen. It's astoundingly funny in all its weirdness.
    8crisp_morning_2004

    If H.I.'s dream of the hellion Biker is not a phantasm, his dream of being blessed with descendants might come true some day.

    Parentless recidivist H.I. regards prison as his home. No matter it is a partiality or a revenge in his own words, he robs convenience stores; he goes to jail; he talks nice to a parole board; the cycle repeats itself. And finally falls in love with a policewoman, ED. Life goes easy on them at first. They bask on the folding chairs, dreaming to have a youth to share their thoughts and feelings.Then the story abruptly turns sad. ED.is barren. what should they do?

    Tempe is a rock place that bears women deprived of the happiness at conceiving babies.Their wombs are barren and hard like the rocks in the desert. Florence,Dot and ED are the victims of the metaphor.One takes fertility pills,another adopts orphans,the other after being turn down adoption,steals a baby named Nathan Jr.

    Nothing could be more exciting than a rebirth. The film tells us what a rebirth is like. Push hard through the saturated mud above your head at the 99% risk of being stifled to death. One second delay would be too late. That's Gale and Evelle's narrow escape from the jail. It sounds surrealist. But that's Coens's wit lies. They twist reality and exaggeration into knots to spin our noggins.Snatching a packet of diapers in a convenience store can be a life-or-death chase scene, without mentioning the leather-clad,bonehead,bounty hunter Biker, who can browbeat nothing except little animals.

    Troubles arrive in sequence. That's the way the life is. At the end of the film, H.I. and ED returns the Nathan Jr.to his parents.It doesn't belong to them and will never be theirs.Why not keep the dream of having kids go on? If H.I.'s dream of the hellion Biker is not a phantasm, his dream of being blessed with descendants might come true some day.

    In despite of the superficially hilarious scenarios, it is a sad story to the marrow. H.I. and ED's sorrow is not skin-deep and can be felt by any of us who puts heart into this film.
    8paulwattriley

    Still as good today

    Watched this again recently and still as good today as it was then.
    Infofreak

    Absolutely brilliant! Possibly the Coens brothers funniest movie.

    I always say that my favourite Coen brothers movie is the last one I watched. A slight exaggeration, but as they have had very few real misses in their career it's easy to forget just how great most of their movies are. For me 'Raising Arizona' ties with 'The Big Lebowski' as their single most entertaining movie, and Arizona is arguably the funnier of the two if you are looking at sheer belly laughs. This movie is the Coen's most cartoonish and shows that they learned a lot from their involvement in Sam Raimi's 'The Evil Dead' and 'Crimewave'. The movie is full of fun, clever touches and infectious energy. It just never lets up. Calling a movie "a roller coaster ride" is a cliche, but it's a perfect description for this. The opening pre-credit sequence has more packed into it than most movies do in their complete running time! Nicholas Cage has recently got sidetracked making dumb action movies but back in the 80s and early 90s he was one of the most interesting and adventurous leading men in Hollywood, making unusual movies like 'Birdy', this, 'Vampire's Kiss' and 'Wild At Heart'. 'Adaptation' is a step back in the right direction for him. I hope he continues in this vein instead of say, 'Con Air 2'. Cage is just terrific as H.I. and I haven't enjoyed Holly Hunter as much in any other movie. Together they make one of the best on screen couples in many a moon. The supporting cast are all fantastic, especially John Goodman and William Forsythe as H.I.'s prison buddies. The psycho biker played by "Tex" Cobb is a also a brilliant touch. There are so many memorable bits in 'Raising Arizona' I could be here all day pointing them out. Just see for yourself. There were lots of lousy movies made in the 1980s, the Spielberg/Lucas/Simpson/Bruckheimer/John Hughes decade that dumbed down mainstream movies forever, but there were also thankfully some wonderfully inspired ones like this, 'Blue Velvet', 'Brazil', 'RoboCop', 'Repo Man', 'Eating Raoul', 'Beetlejuice', and 'The King Of Comedy'.

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      According to Ethan Coen, Nicolas Cage was crazy about his Woody Woodpecker haircut and that it reacted to H.I.'s stress level. The bigger the danger he's in, the bigger the wave in his hair gets.
    • Goofs
      H.I. and Edwina's Chevy alternates between a 1972 Impala four-door post sedan, and a 1974 four-door hardtop quite blatantly throughout the film.
    • Quotes

      Gale: All right, ya hayseeds, it's a stick-up. Everybody freeze. Everybody down on the ground.

      Feisty Hayseed: Well, which is it, young feller? You want I should freeze or get down on the ground? Mean to say, if'n I freeze, I can't rightly drop. And if'n I drop, I'm a-gonna be in motion. You see...

      Gale: Shut up!

      Feisty Hayseed: Okay then.

      Gale: Everybody down on the ground!

      Evelle: Y'all can just forget that part about freezin' now.

      Gale: Better still to get down there.

      Evelle: Yeah, y'all hear that, don't ya?

      [Everybody lays down. Gale looks at the now-empty teller windows]

      Gale: Shit! Where'd all the tellers go?

      Teller's voices: We're down here, sir.

      Evelle: They're on the floor as you commanded, Gale.

    • Crazy credits
      This picture was shot on location in Arizona's Valley of the Sun A Great Place to Raise Your Kids
    • Connections
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Heat/Lethal Weapon/Lily Tomlin/Raising Arizona (1987)
    • Soundtracks
      Down In The Willow Garden
      by Arthur Gorson

      (C) Copyright Charlie Munroe 1957, 1972

      Performed by Holly Hunter

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    FAQ26

    • How long is Raising Arizona?Powered by Alexa
    • What is HI's real name? How about Ed's?
    • How does the film end?
    • Is 'Raising Arizona' based on a book?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • April 10, 1987 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Educando a Arizona
    • Filming locations
      • Camelback Mountain, Phoenix, Arizona, USA
    • Production company
      • Circle Films
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $6,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $22,847,564
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $36,240
      • Mar 15, 1987
    • Gross worldwide
      • $29,180,280
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 34 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Stereo
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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