In the wake of the critical praise that their noir-inspired debut crime film, Blood Simple, garnered, Joel and Ethan Coendecided they wanted to do something completely different with their second movie. For most directors, making a sizable pivot with your sophomore effort would not be an advisable decision. As we all know, though, the Coen Brothers are not most directors. Ultimately, they followed up Blood Simple with the off-the-wall slapstick joyride, Raising Arizona.
Not only did this decision announce to the world that the Coen Brothers would not be pinned down to a single genre — something that has remained true throughout their career — it resulted in the creation of arguably their most influential film. Since its release, many of the Coens' fellow filmmakers, including Edgar Wright, as well as actors in the industry, have cited Raising Arizona as a significant film that inspired the work they have done in their own careers.
The Coen Brothers Have Inspired Many Great Filmmakers with 'Raising Arizona'
Although Raising Arizona opened to mixed reviews from critics and only moderate success at the box office back in 1987, it has since earned a rightful reputation as a masterpiece, and one of the best films in the Coen Brothers' oeuvre. In the year 2000, it ranked 31st on the American Film Institute's 100 Years ... 100 Laughs list, and 16 years later it came in at number one on famed film critic Bilge Ebiri's ranking of the Coen Brothers' filmography. More notable than its critical reclamation, though, is the high marks filmmakers and performers have given Raising Arizonathrough the years.
In a 2024 Letterboxd Four Favorites interview, Wrightcalled Raising Arizona a "miracle," while stating that he looks to it every time he’s about to make a new movie. This was not the first time Wright had shouted out the film publicly. He placed it on his ballot for Sight & Sound's once-a-decade Greatest Films of All Time list. Frequent Wright collaborator, Simon Pegg, is also a massive Raising Arizona fan, once affectionately describing it as "a living, breathing Looney Tunes cartoon."
Other filmmakers who have shared their adoration for Raising Arizona include Quentin Tarantino and Spike Lee. Tarantino has sung the film's praises on numerous occasions, once calling it his top film of 1987 on The Big Picture podcast. In 2013, Lee included it on his list of Essential Films for Filmmakers. Regarding its placement in the Coen Brothers' catalog, it's worth noting that, while Lee's list includes multiple films from a variety of filmmakers, Raising Arizona was the only Coen inclusion.
'Raising Arizona' Presents an Unfamiliar, yet Recognizable World
It is not difficult to see why filmmakers like Wright and Tarantino have such a strong relationship with Raising Arizona. Their sense of world-building and style was clearly influenced by the Coen Brothers and Raising Arizona specifically. As Coen disciples, they learned how to create a world that somehow feels simultaneously unfamiliar, yet completely realized and intelligible. Through the use of uniquely brilliant dialogue, a fresh comedic style, and instantly recognizable characters, the Coens created something wholly distinct in Raising Arizona.
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Beginning with the opening monologue delivered by Nicolas Cage as the dim, kindhearted criminal H.I. McDunnough, the viewer quickly grasps the dynamics of the eccentric world portrayed in Raising Arizona, even if it is a world they have never experienced in real life. So much so, that when Ed — a police officer played to perfection by Holly Hunter—falls for H.I. extremely early in the film, we don't question it. We are already along for the ride. Moreover, by the time John Goodman and William Forsythe show up as an ill-mannered and peculiar pair of brothers on the lam from their recent prison escape who are looking to crash on H.I. and Ed's couch, we don't blink an eye because we just somehow, inexplicably sympathized with the film's central couple as we watched them kidnap a toddler. We then continue to root for them when the film's villain, a bounty hunter who appears to be pulled straight out of a Mad Max movie, shows up to recover the stolen tot.
The Coen Brothers are Masters at Finding Sincerity in the Absurd
image via 20th Century Studios
Although, on the surface, the Coens created a completely absurd and nonsensical world in Raising Arizona, the film's greatest achievement remains the amount of sincere, resonant, and deeply felt emotion the pair were able to inject into their story, a difficult task the brothers would continue to pull off throughout their career. The surprising profundity of the film is present throughout, even if the viewer doesn't notice it on their initial watch. Underneath Raising Arizona's outwardly silly plot, though, is a message about the meaning of family and the journey of the human experience.
The film's closing monologue, again delivered by Cage, is nothing short of beautiful. Touching on the passage of time and the familial bond, Cage guides the audience through the ultimate dream version of the rest of H.I. and Ed's life together. As the credits roll, we never do know if that dream becomes reality. Still, though, we are left with an optimistic feeling, hopeful that the things we truly desire in life will one day come to us.
Raising Arizona is a film that exists outside of time. It has been influencing directors and performers since the day it was released, and will continue to do so for as long as movies are being made. Not all filmmakers are capable of birthing something of that magnitude, but the Coen Brothers' distinctive ability to create a piece of art that will stay with the viewer long after they have first watched it, is what ultimately makes them a seminal force in the history of Hollywood.
Raising Arizona is available to rent on Amazon Prime Video
When a childless couple--an ex-con and an ex-cop--decide to help themselves to one of another family's quintuplets, their lives become more complicated than they anticipated.
Image by Nimesh Niyomal
image via 20th Century Studios
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