Friday, June 15, 2012

Raising Arizona



Runtime: 94 minutes

Directed by: Joel & Ethan Coen

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Holly Hunter, John Goodman, William Forsythe

From: 20th Century Fox

Here's a famous movie that believe it or not I only saw in full just a few days ago; before that I had only seen a few minutes of it way back when (i.e. I was a kid then) and my movie tastes now are quite different from how they were back then; plus, someone on a forum said that I should see it given that I was talking about the Coen Brothers and how-and to many people online this is total blasphemy-I am not really a fan of them at all. Sorry, but all their strangeness and quirkiness just isn't for me. At least from what I've seen I haven't quite understood why so many people go bananas for it.

Most perplexing to me is one movie in particular. I have seen The Big Lebowski once at a pal's place in college and boy did I NOT enjoy it at all. All the constant cursing, the non-plot, how bizarre it was... I have zero comprehension why there's such a big cult for the movie. It is on Netflix Instant, though, so maybe I should try to watch it again and thus deliver a major review of why I think the film is awful...

But let's get onto reviewing this movie. I'm sure most of you know the plot already, but I'll be brief: a repeat ex-con and his ex-cop wife decide to steal one baby out of 5 quintuplets as they are not able to conceive children on their own. A bunch of wacky things happen as they try to hold on to the baby.

I'll admit something right away: this is definitely more enjoyable than The Big Lebowski to me. I mean, there are some pretty funny lines, the music is (mostly) good, it's certainly filmed nicely-by future famous director Barry Sonnefeld-and the performances are all good. I mean, it's certainly a unique role for former boxer turned after Tex Cobb, that's for sure.

YET, all the weirdness and quirkiness was just a turn-off for me. I'm sorry, but despite what I said above, the fact that this is so beloved and I've seen multiple people say that this this is one of the funniest comedies of all time; I can't get on that train, sad to say. Like I said, I guess those guys just aren't for me, no matter how unpopular of an opinion it is. I mean, does a full 5 minutes of the movie-at least-need to be spent on various characters screaming loudly and for a long amount of time? I say no. And then there's characters just being off-putting to me. Those are but a few reasons why I still haven't really changed my opinions on the Brothers Coen, despite the praise I have given.

However, I do have to say that the setpiece of Nic Cage trying to rob a convenience store for some Huggies diapers and it resulting in a big chase involving the cops and dogs and going through several different places was quite memorable and well-done.

I'll be back Sunday night.

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