Raising Arizona (1987)

Touches You

Absolutely the worst movie.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Blistering performances.

Over 30 years ago I peed in my pants over this genius oddball comedy and I have to say it holds up every bit as well if not better now that I have aged. Just watched it with some who are half my age and they also peed in their pants.The Cohen brothers's style of camera work, editing and relentless dialogue is a a brilliant caricature of the highest order. All the characters are great and the absurdity of it all is very infectious. You will even be touched on occasion which is quite an achievement in such a crazy, yet brilliant romp. Still a strong top ten movie of all time for me!

This movie is special to me. I find myself watching it over and over and whenever I meet so I else who loves it too I feel like I'm connected to them someone. It's a true cult classic. This is the perfect role for Nicholas Cage. A tung and cheek, goofy role. Highly recommend

I find it hard to believe this awful movie followed Blood Simple. In that film every scene is brilliantly written, acted and shot. In this film, by contrast, virtually every scene misfires. The relationship between Cage and Hunter is implausible and Cage's silly hair quickly becomes irritating. The kidnapping and everything that follows is gauche and mediocre. The Big Lebowski and Barton Fink are among my favourite movies so it's not as if I don't enjoy the Coen brothers' sense of humour. Indeed, the problem is the absence of anything genuinely funny. But then the Coens are nothing if not inconsistent, witness Burn after Reading and Hail Caesar.

I'm not a die-hard Coen brothers fan but I've watched and enjoyed the majority of their movies. This being one of their early ones, it was neat to finally watch it. From the start, it's apparent that they're going for a much more slapstick and visual humour than their later comedies like 'The Big Lebowski or 'Intolerable Cruelty'. Nicolas Cage is surprisingly restrained in this early role playing a lower than average intelligence 'repeat offender' robber. For me, I found John Goodman to be the highlight of this movie. Not only does he get some of the best visual gags, it feels like he knows how goofy the movie is and is just having fun with the role. But really, the visuals are the highlight of this movie. Barry Sonnenfeld was the cinematographer (Who would go on to direct) has plenty of fantastic tracking shots and cameras attached to motorcycles that really helps the movie stay exciting and fun throughout. The humour has aged quite well, the only thing I noticed is that it had a rather cute ending compared to a lot of their later comedies. Still definitely worth a watch, even without Nic going 'Full-Cage'.