Movies - Raising Arizona

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	Movies - Raising Arizona

Raising Arizona is a quirky, offbeat, and humorous 1987 Coen Brothers film starring Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, William Forsythe, John Goodman, Frances McDormand, and Randall "Tex" Cobb. Not a blockbuster at the time of its release, it has since achieved the status of a cult film. Typical Coen Brothers fare, the eccentric movie is replete with pseudo-symbolism, visual gags, yodeling folk music, unconventional characters, masterful camera work, and redneck dialogue.

Plot synopsis

Arizona recidivist petty criminal H.I. (Hi) McDonnough (Cage) and police officer Edwina (Ed) McDonnough (played by Hunter) meet after she takes several jail mugshots of Hi. They soon fall in love and get married when Hi promises to reform.

After serious attempts, Ed discovers that she is infertile. The couple cannot adopt because of Hi's criminal record. Upon learning of the birth of the "Arizona Quints", Hi and Ed decide to kidnap one of the five babies. Everything goes haywire when Hi tries to steal the baby from his crib. Somehow, babies end up crawling in all different directions. Hi goes back to the car telling Ed that it was an impossible mission. She refuses to let him into the car unless he goes back and gets a baby. He finally goes back and picks Nathan Junior.

Hi's new family life goes well until he is visited by his former prison inmate chums Gale (Goodman) and Evelle (Forsythe). Under Gale and Evelle's influence, Hi reverts to his felonious ways, leading him to see that Ed and he are not very well suited for each other.

Hi decides to steal diapers from a gas station and is soon chased by a cashier and many policemen. Ed leaves Hi on his own during this chase because she has had enough of his criminal ways. Soon he has a pack of dogs and even more police running after him. Cars are spinning and guns are firing. Ed finally decides to pick Hi up, but it is a tense ride home.

One afternoon, Glen (Sam McMurray), an old friend of Hi's, stops by and threatens to take Junior. Hi had punched Glen a few days earlier because Glen said that he wanted to date Ed, even though he already had a wife. Glen read in the newspaper about the kidnapped quint and decided to make Hi give him the baby for himself. When Glen is telling Hi all of this, Gale and Evelle are eavesdropping in the background.

Gale and Evelle decide to take Junior away on their adventure of robbing a bank. Ed comes home and realizes that the baby is gone and is angry and heartbroken. Ed and Hi decide to search for him.

Meanwhile, finding police efforts to recover his baby inadequate, Nathan Arizona Sr. (Trey Wilson), the quints' father, retains the services of beefy, menacing biker Leonard Smalls (Cobb) to perform the task.

Gale and Evelle rob the bank and end up leaving Junior on the road beside where their car was parked. The Lone Biker finds Gale and Evelle, who soon lead Smalls to Junior. Right before Ed and Hi can snatch up the baby, Smalls beats them to it, turning his bike around to fight them. Ed goes for the baby while Hi distracts Smalls from hurting her. Junior is now in Ed's possession while Hi and Smalls have it out. The biker hits Hi and throws him everywhere. He then drags him out from underneath a truck, and he chokes him. The biker finally dies after Hi pulls the pin out of his hand grenade. All that is left of Smalls is a pair of burnt baby shoes. Smalls had mentioned to Nathan, Sr. that he too had been abducted as a baby and sold on the black market. On the soundtrack, as the flaming shoes fall to the ground, one can hear the cries of a baby.

Gale and Evelle return to jail and Hi and Ed return Nathan Jr. to his parents. Even though they had so much love to give him, they end up doing the right thing. They do realize that all they need is each other, but this is not until Nathan Arizona Sr. tells them that even if they never have a baby, they will always have each other. When they explain that they are too selfish for each other, he tells them that they must have some good points because they are giving him his little boy back. Through thick and thin, Ed and Hi's love is enough.

In the end, as Hi sleeps, he has a dream in which he and Ed have been happily married for many years and have many kids. The movie ends with a rendition of Bob Nolan's folksong Way Out There.

Theme

Love is the only thing needed to get through any of life's obstacles. Ed and H.I. go through many misadventures with things always getting in their way, but in the end, they realize that their love for each other is all that they really need. One of the main things that get in their way is the simple fact that they do not think they belong together. It is not until H.I. has one of his undeniably realistic dreams that he realizes everything will work out and that they will always be together.

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