"Raising Arizona" (1987)

Aside from the fact that Nicolas Cage really irritates me, and we have fairly different philosophies on what makes a great actor (as I can tell in his performance in this particular film...), I really respect the way the Coens honed their gift of creating comedic crime pieces. Admittedly, it was a little difficult for me to sympathize with a former inmate who stole a beautiful precious baby from a good family, but what saves this scenario is Holly Hunter’s portrayal of Edwina McDunnough, or, more casually, Ed. Call it the mommy instinct in me, but I really felt the devastation in her inability to conceive. How awful would that be for any woman to go through, especially with someone you love? 

Aside from my little side notes, I definitely felt as though this was a more cleaned-up version of “Crimewave.” In “Raising Arizona,” they give us comedy and a crime without the overblown antics in “Crimewave.” Okay, their antics were a tad over-blown in this feature, but, for some reason, it works better. I think it’s because they weren’t relying on the tool of caricaturism as much, and give us laughable characters who offer more empathy, rather than acceptable, entertaining indifference. Though the notion of kidnapping someone else’s child truly sickens me, I know that the Coens were not endorsing this crime. They were, in fact, endorsing the notion that people who commit these crimes are worthy of being laughed at, yet, in some crazy little way, they still provide these characters with a slither of justice (as they should). (For example: when Hi and Ed save the little baby from that crazy Mr. Smalls. - and when they’re still forgiven for kidnapping Nathan Jr. from Nathan Sr. at the end..)

My thoughts: (and I hate to use the shoulda, woulda, coulda scenarios in these little film briefs, but.....) I think that framing the film from Ed’s perspective, Gale Snoats’ and Evelle Snoats’ perspectives would have provided this film with a little more meaning - I thought they were equally as funny and equally as empathetic. And maybe I’m just biased because I think Nicolas Cage is weird, but I think his performance was more supportive than leading.