“Raising Arizona”

Theatrical poster for "Raising Arizona" (20th Century Fox, 1987)

“Raising Arizona” (20th Century Fox, 1987). An outlandish screwball comedy from the Coen Brothers. Nicolas Cage and Holly Hunter play, respectively, an ex-con and a cop who are desperate to have a baby. When they find out they biologically can’t have children and the adoption agencies won’t place a baby in the home of a convicted criminal, the couple decides to kidnap one of the quintuplets of a prominent local businessman. (After all, “they have more than they can handle.”) Once the real parents post a reward for the return of their missing baby, things really start to get wild. Nicolas Cage and, in particular, Holly Hunter are brilliantly funny and sympathetic as the misguided couple. Surreal to watch and funnier after its over. Written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. “I don’t know. Maybe it was Utah.”