I’ve only seen a handful of their films, but I’m convinced the Coen Brothers are some of the greatest American filmmakers currently working. Which means that Raising Arizona is a rip-snorting good time of a film.
Nicolas Cage plays H.I. McDonnough, a small-time crook who can’t overcome his compulsive need to rob convenience stores. During his frequent incarcerations, he meets and falls in love with Ed, the police lineup photographer. He promises to go straight, they get married, and struggle to raise a family, only to find out she’s barren. Their problems are solved, it seems, when they find out about a set of quintuplets that has just been born.
They steal one of the babies, figuring out the real family has more than enough, and wheels are set in motion. The film never lets up, as various parties try to get the baby. The chase scenes are some of the best since The Blues Brothers, and all of the performances are incredible (especially that of Randall Cobb as the bountyhunter Leonard Smalls). Cage has never been better — you wonder why he went on to do such dreck like The Rock — end even just his facial expressions are worth many a laugh.
The film takes an interesting turn when you realize the baby-snatching couple are probably the most moral characters in the film; the ending is especially fitting and maybe even a little poignant.