One of the first movies that really dug itself into my soul as a budding movie fan, beyond that Tim Burton obsession way back, was a Coen Brothers movie. 1998’s The Big Lebowski to be precise, a Raymond Chandler-esque mystery story that traded the Golden Age of Hollywood in all its dirt and grime with the burnt-out, post-modern apathy of the early 90s. I was stuck with Comedy Central’s ‘edited for TV’, which was a hackjob if ever I saw one, with entire subplots and scenes removed, but even through the butchery I was able to catch enough of the magic to make me fall in love with their work from then on. With the Coens, they’re never just telling a story with their films, they’re crafting their own little worlds that slowly reveal themselves to you as intricately crafted webs of actions, consequences and so on. Worlds that are full of losers, assholes, and otherwise terrible people, but people who show a level of emotional depth and complexity that you wouldn’t expect. While maybe not as rabidly popular as Quentin Tarantino, the Coen Brothers have reached that same level of critical and commercial acclaim that some directors can only glimpse at during their careers. Well, except for The Ladykillers.
Have I blown enough smoke up their asses yet?
Despite my love for the Coens, they’ve never actually appeared on any of the previous Marathons. In fact I’ve only ever reviewed one film of theirs on the blog, the illustrious Fargo (now an illustrious television series), a couple years back. Since then I’ve had a disturbing lack of Coens in my life, and it’s about damn time that we rectified that situation. Of course the Coens don’t generally deal in the Halloweenish films genres, but that’s never stopped us before, has it?
H.I. McDunnough is what you might call a ‘recidivist’. He’s not a bad guy per se, he’s never intentionally hurt anyone and he rarely says an unkind word, but he just can’t stop himself from committing crime and getting his ass thrown in jail. Not that it doesn’t have its advantages; It’s during the processing for his various crimes that he meets Edwina (she’s the one that takes his mugshots), and the two fall in love and eventually get married. Life is good, at least until the question of children is brought up, and it is revealed that Edwina is incapable of getting pregnant. Adoption is out as well, because of H.I.’s criminal record, so it seems like they’re out of luck. Well, they could try just...taking a baby. Like that rich guy Nathan Arizona, he’s just had five kids at the same time! There’s no way he and his wife can take care of all of them the way they need. If H.I. and Ed were to, say, take one of the babies, no one would care right? H.I. and Ed get a child of their own, Arizona has one less kid to deal with, everybody wins! Right?
Raising Arizona is definitely a weird one. It’s got all the parts of a Coen Brothers movie: Loser protagonists, spoonfuls of philosophy, interesting music (ladies love yodeling), Frances McDormand and John Goodman, everything you need for an amazing film. However, I don’t think I’ve seen a movie by the Coens that was so goofy. Gallows humor isn’t a stranger to Coen films, and they’ll even exaggerate things from time to time, but Raising Arizona is downright cartoonish. The design of the Arizona Quints bedroom, which has a crib that feels like it should be housing Popeye’s nephew rather than actual babies, the entire ‘left the baby at the store’ scene, it gets into downright wacky territory. These are the guys who reimagined the Odyssey in the Depression-era American South, and we’re getting material that wouldn’t have seemed out of place in one of the Home Alone movies. If you’ve got certain expectation of what their films should be like, it’s possible this might feel more on the level of My Name Is Earl rather than Fargo, for better or worse. Earl and H.I. are bother Southern gentleman with mustaches and wild hair who have a criminal history and are trying to do right by others.
Silly though it may be, I find Raising Arizona to be an incredibly endearing film. Maybe it’s because I’ve had a baby/child in my life for a couple years now that H.I.’s growing fear of the pressures of responsibility and the world devolving in greater and greater levels of chaos with the inclusion of a baby seems all too familiar. However Raising Arizona is right in the sense that a baby is a source of joy as well as hardship, and seeing this gaggle of irresponsible fuckups falling under the baby spell is great fun. It’s crazy and surreal because bringing a life into the world and subsequently being everything to that life is a crazy and surreal thing. It really alters your way of thinking about the world.
Surprising as it may be, Nicholas Cage puts in fantastic work here as H.I. McDunnough. I know the common opinion of Cage, formed from films like The Wicker Man and Ghost Rider, is that he’s a ‘so bad it’s good’ kind of performer, but honestly I think he fits in perfectly alongside Frances McDormand, John Goodman and Holly Hunter (haven’t heard from her since Crash). Softspoken, more literate than you’d expect, Cage embodies the look of a man consistently beyond his depth every single day. Yet another thing that I totally identify with, by the way.
Recommending a Coen Brothers movie isn’t exactly a hard thing to do, but if you’ve never had a chance to and you’re wanting to try it out, then this is a good way to start. If you’re a fan of weird 80s comedies like Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure or Heathers then you’ll be in a pretty good spot. Your opinions on having kids might not change, but at least you’ll have a good time this Halloween.
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