Certification. 15
Running Time. 1 hour 34 mins
Rating. 72%
There is so much to like about The Coen brothers' Raising Arizona. An original and engaging plot. A wonderful score from Carter Burwell [the blue-grass banjo and yodelling on 'Way Out There' is simply divine]. An endless array of eminently recitable dialogue. A seemingly effortless performance from Nicholas Cage, as the good-natured, charming, career petty criminal, H.I. McDunnough.
The film also introduces the audience to many of the, now beloved, quirky trademarks that have punctuated subsequent black comedies by the Coen brothers.
However, it is the inventive opening vignette, which serves as exposition, that is the genuine highlight of the film. Raising Arizona might not be the best film, hell, it's not even the best Coen brothers film. But I'd argue that the opening 11 minutes of Raising Arizona is up there with anything the Coen brothers have committed to film. The opening vignette sets out an entire love story between two people more quickly, succinctly and effectively than most films manage to achieve in two hours. And ends with the unforgettable...
"Now y'all without sin can cast the first stone. But we thought it was unfair that some should have so many while others should have so few. With the benefit of hindsight, maybe it wasn't such a hot idea. But at the time, Ed's little plan seemed like the solution to all our problems and the answers to all our prayers."
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