Raising Arizona

Movie review by Tony Nigro, Common Sense Media
Raising Arizona Poster Image

Common Sense says

age 14+

Hysterically twisted tale has profanity, violence.

PG-13 1987 94 minutes
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Parents say

age 13+

Based on 7 reviews

Kids say

age 11+

Based on 23 reviews

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A Lot or a Little?

The parents' guide to what's in this movie.

What Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that Raising Arizona is a classic 1987 Coen brothers film in which Nicholas Cage and Holly Hunt steal an infant from parents who recently gave birth to quintuplets after they learn they're unable to have children of their own. The main characters are kidnappers and convicts. A kidnapped baby is taken into perilous situations throughout, such as car chases, bank robberies, gunfights, and the like. One character is a bounty hunter of sorts who, in a dream sequence, destroys everything in his path, including bunny rabbits. A character blows up from a hand grenade. While the violence is often exaggerated for comedic or dramatic effect, there is an extended chase sequence in which gun and rifle fire is nonstop. Characters are shown bloodied and bruised in these fights. There is some profanity in nearly every scene -- including one use of "f--k" and variations on "s--t." A teen convenience store clerk looks at a pornographic magazine. There is some sex talk, often in the context of conceiving a baby.

Community Reviews

doctora
doctora Adult
May 30, 2022
age 11+

Quite nothing like it...

I saw this film in the dollar theatre down the street from my house shortly after it's first run. I was 11 years old and I could not make heads or tails of this film. They did not behave or talk like anyone I had ever seen and I had difficulty following the plot. I could not believe anyone had an accent like Holly Hunter and wondered how could a baby be on the front of a motorcycle...but clearly I was missing the forest for the trees. What this film DID do is make a strong impact and lodged in my memory as a film to re-watch and I did. And it still flips the script in all different directions. Hands down the best "just gotta go pick up some diapers" scene ever.
kridcalvin
kridcalvin Adult
September 29, 2021
age 14+

Hilarious movie

I'd let my older kids (14+) watch this movie. Does it have some language? Yes. Is the language used for shock value or repeatedly or in obscene ways? No. The Coen brothers are masters at hilarity and this movie delivers. If there's a scene in this movie that would make me squirm slightly while watching with my 14+ kids, it would probably be the scene where H.I.'s boss proposes wife swapping and H.I. responds by punching him in the face (there might actually be a lesson somewhere in there . . . ). Humans in Coen movies are human, relatable, broken, bumbling and somehow highlight the good and bad and the beauty in us in hilarious ways. If your kids are old/smart enough to pick up on that and have a sense of humor, they can obviously handle this movie. If your kids can watch Nicholas Cage stealing diapers in this movie with a 'panty' on his head and their takeaway is that stealing is ok, let's face it. You've likely already failed as a parent. Luckily, the bad behavior in this movie is so comical and the characters so bungling that I doubt any sane person could be negatively influenced by it. As I said, I'd totally let my 14+ kids watch this movie but some of the other Coen bros.' movies are a different story...
See all 7 parent reviews

What's the Story?

This early entry from the quirky Coen brothers concerns an ex-convict named H.I. (Nicolas Cage) who falls in love and marries a police officer named Edwina or "Ed" (Holly Hunter). After learning that they cannot have children, the couple decides to kidnap a baby boy quintuplet from wealthy furniture mogul Nathan Arizona (Trey Wilson). But when Arizona posts a large reward for his baby's safe return, H.I.'s two former prison buddies (John Goodman and William Forsythe) show up unannounced, and a ruthless, baby-selling bounty hunter (Randall "Tex" Cobb) attempts to hunt him down.

Is It Any Good?

A traditional farce, RAISING ARIZONA offers plenty of laughs but plenty of heart, too: A central theme in the movie is how hard it is to keep a family together.

Of course, car chases, gunfights, and chaos abound, and most of the time it's in the presence of a young infant. However, none of this has any more devastating an effect than when dynamite explodes in Daffy Duck's face. Indeed, this is merely a cartoon with real actors, with the the result being hilarious but only suited for mature viewers.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about what makes this movie funny. Kidnappings and bounty hunters aren't usually treated so lightly . Why are they funny here? Can you think of other movies that make light of usually serious subject matter? Where do you draw the line between offbeat and truly tasteless territory?

  • How is setting -- in this case Arizona -- almost a character unto itself in this movie? How does that sense come through in the scenery, the secondary characters, the objects, and so on? How is this sense of place as character similar to that in other Coen brothers movies, such as Fargo and The Big Lebowski, for instance?

  • How is this movie a parody? How do you know we aren't supposed to take it seriously? Are there ever times when the characters display humanity?

Movie Details

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