Raising Arizona (1987)
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An ex-convict and a former police officer navigate the absurdities of life and crime after kidnapping a baby to start their own family.
The story
Convenience store robber Herbert ("H.I." or "Hi") McDunnough meets police officer Edwina ("Ed") when she takes his mugshot after several arrests in Tempe, Arizona. After Ed's fiancé leaves her, the two fall in love and marry, moving into a desert mobile home. However, they face a significant hurdle: Ed is infertile and they cannot adopt due to Hi's criminal record. Desperate to start a family, they learn of a local furniture magnate who has quintuplet sons. They decide to kidnap one of the babies, believing it to be the magnate's son, to begin their own family life.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After kidnapping a baby to start a family, Hi and Ed's lives are complicated by the arrival of Hi's former cellmates, Gale and Evelle, who tempt him to return to a life of crime. Their situation escalates when a local man, Glen, discovers their secret and demands the baby. Simultaneously, a bounty hunter named Smalls is hired to find the child. The plot spirals into a series of chaotic events, including a bank robbery where Gale and Evelle are separated from the baby. During a final confrontation, Hi and Ed manage to rescue the child from Smalls, who is killed in an explosion. They eventually return the baby to the magnate, Nathan Sr., who chooses not to report them. The film concludes with Hi experiencing a series of prophetic dreams about their future and the fate of those around them.
- First release year
- 1987
- Runtime (minutes)
- 94
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Joel Coen
- Writers
- Ethan Coen · writer; Joel Coen · writer
- Cast and characters
- Nicolas Cage · H.I. "Hi" McDunnough; Holly Hunter · Edwina "Ed" McDunnough; Trey Wilson; William Forsythe; John Goodman · Gale Snoats; Frances McDormand; Sam McMurray; Randall "Tex" Cobb
- Genres
- crime; comedy
- Themes
- family; crime; identity
- Tone and mood
- comedy; quirky; absurd
- Premise and plot tags
- kidnapping; bank robbery; road trip
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews upon release but has since gained a cult following and is considered a comedy classic.
- Production trivia
- The film was influenced by the works of director Preston Sturges and writers such as William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor.; The character of Leonard Smalls is sometimes interpreted as a reference to the character of Lennie Small from John Steinbeck's novella Of Mice and Men.; The film's bank robbery scene was ranked second on the Dutch magazine Vrij Nederland's list of the 5 best bank robberies in film history.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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