Line #52 Film/RaisingArizona


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/raising_arizona.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:300:Just your typical American family.]]
3
4	->'''Edwina "Ed" [=McDunnough=]:''' I'm not gonna live this way, Hi! It just ain't family life!
5	->'''H.I. "Hi" [=McDunnough=]:''' Well... it ain't ''[[Series/TheAdventuresOfOzzieAndHarriet Ozzie and Harriet]]''.
6
7	Creator/TheCoenBrothers' follow-up to ''Film/BloodSimple'', ''Raising Arizona'' (1987) begins with harmless criminal H.I. "Hi" [=McDunnough=] (Creator/NicolasCage) and police officer Edwina "Ed" (Creator/HollyHunter) meeting and falling in love during a series of mug shots. They get married, settle down, and decide they want kids. There's one problem: Ed's infertile. They try adopting, but H.I.'s criminal past prevents this. Then, when all seems hopeless, an opportunity presents itself: Furniture magnate and local celebrity Nathan Arizona (Creator/TreyWilson)'s wife gives birth to quintuplets. An off-handed remark about "having more than they can handle" gives H.I. and Ed the idea to kidnap one of the babies, and raise it as their own. So, H.I. sneaks in, and takes Nathan Jr. (we think), and that's when all hell breaks loose. First, H.I's prison buddies Gale (Creator/JohnGoodman) and Evelle (Creator/WilliamForsythe) break out, and hole up at their place. Then a demonic bounty hunter (Randall "Tex" Cobb) seems to spring from H.I.'s nightmares to pursue him. [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And then he punches out his boss.]]
8
9	Nathan, Jr. is about to become the most wanted baby in UsefulNotes/{{Arizona}}, for all the worst reasons--while H.I. and Ed, who have grown to genuinely love their stolen child, are forced to decide if love is reason enough to keep him.
10
11	----
12	!!This film provides examples of:
13
14	* ActorAllusion: Leonard Smalls is played by Randall 'Tex' Cobb and wears grenades on his vest. Cobb also played a grenade-wearing character in the movie ''Film/UncommonValor''.
15	* AdoptionIsNotAnOption: HI's extremely lengthy criminal past prohibits the couple from adopting even though they argue that Ed's model police record should "even things out."
16	* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Although calling HI truly "bad" is a bit of a stretch.
17	* AmbiguouslyHuman: Leonard Smalls seems to have supernatural properties and is frequently associated with fire. He appears to HI in a dream, produces cigars and matches from thin air, materializes in an explosion, and seemingly bleeds gouts of flame. However, he also references being bought on the black market as a baby, and his goal is simply a chunk of money.
18	* ApologeticAttacker: HI apologizes twice while fighting Smalls. The first time seems to be out of pure terror and the second time [[spoiler:is after pulling the pin out of Small's grenade, killing him.]]
19	* ArcWords: "More than we can handle". Nathan Arizona's facetious quote to the newspapers about his quintuplets, which Ed uses as justification that they should take one of their babies.
20	* ArtisticLicenseLaw: "It ain't armed robbery if the gun ain't loaded," HI says to Ed. Using an empty/fake weapon could theoretically be a mitigating factor when it comes to sentencing, but ''hell yes'' it is still considered armed robbery. As a former cop, Ed should know better.
21	* AssholeVictim: Subverted. We initially think Nathan Arizona is this, and his early dialogue suggests a potential BigBad. When [[spoiler:HI and Ed return his son]] he realises they took him. He refuses to call the cops, genuinely thanks them, and offers them [[PetTheDog uplifting advice]] on starting a family of their own. So, earlier in and throughout the movie, Nathan Sr. can qualify as a HeroAntagonist, while Leonard Smalls is the true BigBad.
22	* BabiesEverAfter: [[spoiler:In H.I.'s final dream, he and Ed finally have kids (and grandkids) of their own.]]
23	* BabyBeMine: Ed is infertile, but she wants to have a baby, so Ed and H.I. decide to steal one of the Arizona babies.
24	* BadassBiker: Leonard Smalls, to a [[MaybeMagicMaybeMundane supernatural degree]].
25	* BadBoss: Glen, HI's supervisor, suggests a wife-swapping engagement with HI, then ultimately tries to blackmail him for Nathan Jr.
26	* BeardOfEvil: The nefarious Leonard Smalls sports a big, oil-soaked and wooly one.
27	* BerserkButton: There is little that fazes H.I.—except another man expressing sexual interest in his wife (even if it's in the context of wife-swapping).
28	* BigBad: Leonard Smalls, the biker searching for Nathan Junior to either ransom him or sell him on the black market.
29	* BigShutUp / DistractingDisambiguation: During the bank robbery.
30	-->'''Gale:''' All right, ya hayseeds, it's a stick-up. Everybody freeze. Everybody down on the ground!\
31	''[{{beat}} as no one moves]''\
32	'''Hayseed:''' Well, which is it, young feller? You want I should freeze or get down on the ground? Mean to say, if'n I freeze, I can't rightly drop. And if'n I drop, I'm a-gonna be in motion. You see...\
33	'''Gale:''' Shut up!\
34	'''Hayseed:''' Okay, then!
35	* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:After everything is said and done, [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy HI and Ed return Nathan Jr.]]. Nathan Sr., after learning why they kidnapped him in the first place, [[WhatYouAreInTheDark decides not to turn them in]] and gives them advice for their relationship. [[DistantFinale HI then has a dream]] where he and Ed are an elderly couple being visited by their children and grandchildren. Nathan Jr. is also a football star, and while he doesn't remember HI or Ed, at least he's happy.]]
36	* BlackComedy: The film is zany and comedic but also deals with baby snatching, crime, and some rather stiff violence.
37	* BookEnds: Gale and Evelle escape from prison by tunneling out, emerging outside the walls during a rainstorm and covered with mud. At the end of the film, H.I. dreams that they return on their own, now smeared with dye from the bank robbery and using the same tunnel they dug to escape.
38	* BottomlessMagazines: The policeman chasing H.I. after the latter's attempted store-robbery. Conversely, in the same sequence, a store clerk is shown re-loading his double-barrel shotgun... Before firing four more times without stopping to reload again.
39	* CallBack: At the start of the film, H.I. crawls under a bed to retrieve one of the Arizona babies, when another one "ambushes" him by falling on his back. At the end of the film, he crawls under a car to escape from Smalls in the same way.
40	* CannotTellAJoke: H.I.'s boss, Glen, is always telling Polack jokes that no one thinks are funny. He also bungles one and has to start over again (and still bungles it but never seems to realize it). [[spoiler:H.I. notes that it finally gets him in trouble when he tries to crack a Polack joke to a Polish highway patrolman.]]
41	* CatchPhrase:
42	** "Okay then," the catchphrase of Arizona yokels.
43	** HI's boss Glenn always says, "Say, that reminds me..."
44	** Ed's "Turn to the right!"
45	** Ed's off-screen co-worker: "Don't forget the _______, Ed!"
46	** Nathan Arizona's marketing catchphrase is "... or my name ain't Nathan Arizona!"
47	* CentralTheme: Parenting.
48	* ChaseScene: Cops and trigger-happy civilians wildly pursue H.I. and Ed after a bungled robbery.
49	* CloudCuckooLand: Rural Arizona is depicted as such.
50	* CodeName: Subverted by the StupidCrooks Gale and Evelle.
51	-->'''Gale:''' I told you not to use our names. Can't you try to keep from forgetting that?\
52	'''Evelle:''' Not even our code names?\
53	'''Gale:''' Oh yeah... Right.\
54	'''Evelle:''' Y'all hear that? We's usin' code names!
55	%%* ComedicSociopathy
56	* ComicallyMissingThePoint: "Son, you've got a ''panty'' on your head!"
57	* CurbStompBattle: H.I. does not fare well against Leonard Smalls.
58	* DarkAndTroubledPast: Played with. Leonard Smalls casually tells Nathan Arizona that he was sold to the black market as a baby, but he doesn't seem to have a problem with it, since he subtly brags about his price, and is more than willing to sentence Nathan Jr. to the same fate.
59	* DiegeticSoundtrackUsage: A Muzak version of the main theme "Goofing-Off Suite" plays in a supermarket. Ed also sings "Down in Willow Garden" as a lullaby, which is the basis of the film's other recurring leitmotif.
60	* DisasterDominoes: H.I. holding up a convenience store quickly snowballs into a chaotic romp all over the suburbs, with a pack of angry dogs in pursuit and indiscriminate gunfire.
61	* DisproportionateRetribution: Kicking off the epic ChaseScene, the cops are quick to open fire on H.I., even though all he did was steal [[ProductPlacement Huggies]] (he left the cash on the counter).
62	* DistantFinale: H.I.'s final dream.
63	* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Gale and Evelle are essentially birthed from the ground, screaming like newborn children.
64	* DonutMessWithACop: "You want to find an outlaw, you hire an outlaw. You want to find a Dunkin' Donuts, call a cop."
65	* DreamingOfThingsToCome: H.I. has nightmares about the Biker, and the epilogue of the film is more pleasant dream. Ed reveals she dreamt of Leonard Smalls, too.
66	* DrivesLikeCrazy: When H.I. is running from the cops, Ed's police training kicks in, and she immediately turns into ''Film/{{Bullitt}}''.
67	* EarlyBirdCameo: H.I. works for [[Film/TheHudsuckerProxy Hudsucker Industries]].
68	* EinsteinHair: H.I., although it's obvious he's no scientist.
69	* EldritchAbomination: H.I. believes this is what the Biker is. The fact that he roars and bleeds fire when shot seems to hint that Hi may be right.
70	* EmbarrassingFirstName: H.I. reluctantly signs his DearJohnLetter Herbert.
71	* EmbarrassingLastName: Nathan Arizona is apparently embarrassed by his ''last'' name-- he was born "Nathan Huffheinz", and claims that he changed his name because, "Would you buy furniture from a store called 'Unpainted Huffheinz?'"
72	* EpicFail: Glen’s repeatedly botching the punchline to his Polack joke—and thinking it’s hilarious each time despite its making no sense.
73	* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: Inverted. Leonard Smalls' tattoo reads "Mama Didn't Love Me," and he describes being sold on the black market as a child. It's part of the general theme of parenting.
74	* EvilIsPetty: Leonard Smalls is introduced using a shotgun and hand grenades to slaughter small animals he passes on the side of the road.
75	* ExactWords: Nathan Arizona's CatchPhrase guarantee is "if you won't find a cheaper price anywhere else, OrMyNameIsnt Nathan Arizona!" Turns out that "Nathan Arizona" isn't his original name. It's Nathan ''Huffheinz''.
76	* FamilyThemeNaming: Hi, Ed, and Jr. all go by two-letter monikers. Evelle even points out that "Junior" can be spelled "Jr".
77	* FreezeFrameBonus: The newspaper H.I. swipes in the prologue features a hilarious little bit of meta-humor in the text beneath the headline:
78	-->The fabled Arizona Quints were released today from the Maricopa County Hospital. They accompanied their mother to Tempe after two months of incubation. Their father is unpainted furniture tycoon Nathan Arizona, who is reportedly pondering a run for Congress in the 4th District. Pete Peterson, Republican incumbent in the 4th, dismissed the birth of the quints as "a cheap publicity stunt" in a news conference Thursday. He characterized Nathan Arizona as an "unprincipled media hog and a loud hectoring nitwit", but conceded that [[MeanCharacterNiceActor Trey Wilson, the actor portraying him, as a "very nice fellow with a distasteful job to do."]]
79	* FreudianExcuse: The Biker's tattoo reads "Momma didn't love me." He also carries a pair of bronzed baby shoes hanging off his belt, which are seen falling to the earth after he explodes. In his conversation with Arizona, he admits that he was sold on the black market as a baby, but doesn't seem to care much. He is apparently the embodiment of what happens to a child when parenting goes bad.
80	* GenderBlenderName:
81	** Gale and Evelle, the two male cons, though "Gail" is the feminine spelling of the former.
82	** Ed, short for Edwina. H.I. even claims they named the male baby Ed:
83	--->"Well, as in 'Edward.' We just like that name."
84	* {{Hammerspace}}: A subtle but [[RuleOfCool cool]] version of this: As the biker walks through Unpainted Arizona, a cigar appears in one hand, out of nowhere, and a match in his other, which he strikes on a wall, to light the cigar.
85	* HandCannon: The clerk at the store pulls a huge, nickel-plated revolver.
86	* HateSink: Hi's [[BadBoss boss]] Glen. He's a boorish, dimwitted racist who laughs at his own jokes, talks with his mouth full, and has a creepy fixation on Ed.
87	* HarmfulToMinors: Leonard Smalls threatens to sell Nathan Jr. on the black market if he doesn't get his ransom.
88	* HoistByHisOwnPetard:
89	** Telling Polack jokes to a cop named "Kowalski"? Bad idea.
90	** Leonard Smalls is [[spoiler:blown up by his own grenades.]]
91	* HypocriticalHumor: Ed repeatedly admonishes Hi not to swear in front of the baby, but upon noticing that he's holding up a convenience store repeatedly exclaims, "That son of a bitch!"
92	* IceCreamKoan: "Well, there's what's right, and there's what's right, and never the twain shall meet."
93	* ImperialStormtrooperMarksmanshipAcademy: The cops and the grocery store owner sure blow the hell out of a lot of inventory.
94	* ImplacableMan: Leonard Smalls is portrayed as such, a seemingly undefeatable foe who draws closer and closer to the main couple.
95	* {{Irony}}: Nathan Arizona keeps assuring people that what he said is true "or my name ain't Nathan Arizona!" Well, turns out, it's not his real name.
96	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
97	** Nathan Arizona, Sr. turns out to be a decent guy in the end.
98	** Gale and Evelle are opportunistic crooks, but they both fall in love with Nathan Jr. and beg to accompany Hi and Ed when they think the baby is in trouble.
99	* KickTheDog: The Biker's EstablishingCharacterMoment -- [[EnemyToAllLivingThings he shoots a lizard with a shotgun and tosses a grenade at a bunny rabbit.]] [[ImprobableAimingSkills While speeding on his bike]].
100	* KnightOfCerebus: The film is mostly a comedy, but anytime Leonard Smalls appears, things get deadly serious.
101	* LawOfInverseFertility:
102	** "I want a baby, H.I.! They got more than they can handle."
103	** [[spoiler:Later averted, when the couple learn Nathan and his wife had the ''same problem'' and just took fertility pills -- and if H.I.'s dream is accurate, they solved their problem.]]
104	* {{Leitmotif}}: "Down In The Willow Garden" is constantly played as H.I. and Ed's theme. Ed sings it to Nathan Jr. at one point.
105	* LighterAndSofter: The Coen brothers made this movie with the intention of making a film that was the complete opposite of their previous film, the dark thriller Film/BloodSimple. The film has a more light-hearted sense of humor and is generally more optimistic than a lot of their other films.
106	* LivingMacGuffin: The second half of the film involves a number of parties all jockeying to take possession of Nathan Jr., who gets repeatedly handed off from one to the other. Being a baby, Nathan Jr. has no agency in this.
107	* LockAndLoadMontage: Parodied. H.I. is going back and forth speechifying, putting another small handgun in his pants every time he reappears on screen. Finally, he appears with a shotgun, saying "So let's go, honey! (cocks gun) Let's go get Nathan Jr!"
108	* LyricalDissonance: One of the main themes of the film is based on the tune of "Down in the Willow Garden" aka "Rose Connelly," a song about a man awaiting execution for murdering a young woman. The lyrics are heard only in one scene, where Ed sings it as a lullaby.
109	* MagicalRealism: The plot is centered around a fairly mundane love story/kidnapping scheme, but it also involves a bounty hunter who may or may not be supernatural, and Hi seems to have prophetic and/or clairvoyant dreams. The general presentation also has a generally heightened, occasionally surreal nature that makes the film play almost like a fairytale.
110	* MaintainTheLie: H.I. and Ed [[spoiler:after they "adopt" Nathan Jr.]]
111	* MamaBear: Ed is ready to throw down with Leonard Smalls over Nathan, despite being unarmed.
112	* MissingChild: For all of the comedy that ensues afterwards, Nathan Arizona's reaction at finding out that one of his children has been kidnapped is perfectly understandable.
113	* MonochromeCasting: The film is a parody of Southwest redneck culture. Therefore, there are only two nonwhite bit characters, and both of them are in prison.
114	* NervesOfSteel: Nathan Arizona Sr. doesn't once flinch during his meeting with the terrifying Smalls.
115	* NoHoldsBarredBeatdown: The biker gives this to H.I. at the end.
116	* OhCrap:
117	** The biker's expression when he realizes H.I. [[spoiler:is holding the pin from one of his grenades]].
118	** Gale and Evelle have this reaction after finding out they left Junior behind following their botched bank robbery attempt.
119	** And the driver of the pickup whose vehicle H.I. sort-of carjacks during the chase scene. And then H.I., when the driver makes it known that he was never told when to ''stop''.
120	* OnePhoneCall: An offscreen voice reminds Ed to give H.I. one.
121	* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Hi hesitates before signing his DearJohnLetter with his EmbarrassingFirstName, "Herbert."
122	* PineappleSurprise: How Hi [[spoiler:defeats Leonard Smalls.]]
123	* PinPullingTeeth: Leonard Smalls pulls the pins on grenades this way when he's on his motorcycle.
124	* PintSizedPowerhouse: Ed, played by 5'2" Holly Hunter, is an officer of the law, ''twice decorated''. Her face off against the biker should give some idea of how she achieved that. Also, when she socks H.I. for robbing the convenience store, he looks like he's been punched by someone bigger than him.
125	* PublicDomainSoundtrack: ''Music/OdeToJoy'' is both yodeled and played on a banjo, and mashed up with Music/PeteSeeger's "Goofing-Off Suite".
126	* RecklessGunUsage: During the chase sequence, the police and at least two store clerks start blasting away at H.I., no matter how many random civilians might be in range.
127	* RunningGag:
128	** HI repeatedly identifies the kidnapped baby as, "Nathan Jr... I think." Later, Nathan Arizona says the same thing.
129	** Hi and Ed still calling their kidnapped baby Nathan, Jr. When asked by others what the baby's name is, they each give the other partner's name, adding a "Junior" to the end of it. And then after Gale and Evelle take the baby away, they start calling him Gale Jr.
130	** Everyone in Arizona says "Okay, then."
131	** Glen's obsession with Polack jokes.
132	** HI's co-worker always telling the same story about finding a human head on the highway.
133	** Whenever Nathan Jr changes hands, the Dr Spock baby guide goes with him. It gets increasingly battered and damaged as the film goes on.
134	* ScarilyCompetentTracker: Smalls, who boasts that some say he's "part hound dog." We see him tracking Gale and Evelle to Hi's trailer through the scent of their pomade.
135	* ScaryBlackMan: Sometimes he gets the menstrual cramps ''real hard''.
136	* SceneryPorn: Lots of gorgeous vistas of the Sonoran Desert. Hi and Ed spend many evenings watching the sundown on lawn chairs. Ed remarks, "That was beautiful!"
137	* ShotgunsAreJustBetter: Leonard Smalls carries a pair of sawed-off, double-barreled shotguns in crossed holsters on his back.
138	* ShoutOut:
139	** "P.O.E." and "O.P.E." scrawled on a bathroom door is a ShoutOut to ''Film/DrStrangelove''.
140	** The Biker's real name is [[Literature/OfMiceAndMen "Leonard Smalls."]] His friends call him "Lenny"... but he ain't got no friends.
141	** The tracking shot, supposedly the POV of Leonard Smalls' motorcycle speeding right up into the Arizona family window, is an homage to Creator/{{Sam Raimi}}'s ''Franchise/EvilDead'' films. The Coen brothers were early collaborators with Raimi.
142	** The cell block that H.I. is brought into every time he has been arrested and sent to jail is Cell Block 2, which is in Central Unit at Arizona State Prison Complex-Florence. It is also the same cell block that Skip and Harry are imprisoned at in ''Film/StirCrazy''.
143	** As Hi watches the sun rise on day one with baby Nathan Jr. He says, "Sometimes it's a hard world for the little things". This is a quote of Rachel Cooper's observation in ''Film/TheNightOfTheHunter''.
144	* ASimplePlan: Stealing one of the Arizona quints, since the parents "have more than they can handle."
145	* SmugSnake: Glen thinks he's pretty clever in figuring out who HI's baby is and blackmailing him over it.
146	* TheSociopath: Leonard Smalls very likely qualifies. He shows almost no emotion or empathy, besides anger, takes pleasure out of killing people and animals, while also having some BlueAndOrangeMorality. The biggest example is when he threatens to sell Nathan Jr. to the black market if he's not paid enough by Nathan Arizona, despite that fact that Smalls was ''himself'' sold to the black market as an infant. In other words, he's been through the exact same experience and knows what it feels like, but just doesn't care.
147	* SoftSpokenSadist: Leonard Smalls is very quiet and very evil, though he does let out some animalistic roars in the climax.
148	* SophisticatedAsHell: H.I., and everyone in the film, to some degree. An early example of the Coens' fondness for stylization, but Creator/RogerEbert found it distracting enough to pan the movie over it.
149	-->'''Evelle:''' No ma'am, we didn't escape, we released ourselves from prison on our own recognizance.\
150	'''Gale:''' We felt we'd reached the limits of what the institution had to offer us.
151	* SoundtrackDissonance: "Down In The Willow Garden" is about someone who is to be hanged for poisoning his fiance for her money.
152	* StockingMask: H.I. wears this while robbing a grocery store and during the PoliceChase in the aftermath where he encounters a CaptainObvious driver who points out that he's wearing this.
153	* StuffBlowingUp: Everything in the film's climax... [[spoiler:including the biker]].
154	* StupidCrooks: H.I. is a terrible crook, getting caught every time he tries to stick up a quickie mart. Evelle and Gale are just as bad, thoroughly bungling their bank robbery and constantly "leaving a man behind."
155	* SubvertedRhymeEveryOccasion: The Arizona Quints: Harry, Barry, Larry, Garry, and Nathan Junior.
156	* SuperFlyReflexes: Leonard Smalls offers to use his tracking skills to locate the kidnapped baby Nathan Jr. In a display of his supernatural prowess, he complains to Nathan Sr about the flies in the latter's office, which Nathan denies. Then Smalls lunges forward and grabs one in front of Nathan.
157	* TattooedCrook: H.I. and Leonard Smalls both sport tattoos, including [[spoiler:the same Mr. Horsepower tattoo]].
158	* TearsOfJoy: Ed, after H.I. gets Nathan Jr.
159	* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: The famous chase scene, where HI gets shot at by the cops, the convenience store clerk, and a grocery store manager wielding a ''shotgun''.
160	* TomboyishName: Ed, short for Edwina.
161	* TooManyBabies: The Arizona quints. Nathan stating this (and H.I. and Ed taking it literally) leads to the whole plot.
162	* TrashyTrailerHome: Hi, a hard-luck ex-con, lives in a dilapidated trailer in the middle of nowhere that is symbolic of his generally poor lot in life.
163	* TwoDecadesBehind: The film establishes that it's taking place in modern times (The 80s) with Hi mentioning President Reagan. But all the fashions, cars, hairstyles, etc. range from the Great Depression to the 70s.
164	* TheUnreveal: HI and Smalls have the same tattoo. What this means is never explained.
165	* VocalDissonance: Probably an unintentional example, but Leonard Smalls' single scene of dialogue highlights the fact that Tex Cobb, however burly and terrifying he might look, has a rather high and extremely nasal voice, in part due to the damage his face accumulated during his boxing career. He also never raises his voice, always speaking in a calm, reasonable manner even when describing the brutal lengths to which he'll go to get his man. Somehow, it actually makes him ''more'' intimidating.
166	* WithinArmsReach: While Smalls is beating up Hi and throwing him around Hi accidentally grabs the pin from one of the grenades that Smalls keeps on his vest. Smalls [[OhCrap has just enough time to realize what happened]] before the grenade blows up.
167	* WordSaladTitle: It's not clear until you see the film that "Arizona" is a surname, so "Raising Arizona" means raising a child with the name of Arizona.
168	* WouldHurtAChild: Or at least take him and sell him off on the black market. Either way, Leonard Smalls ''will'' get money out of finding Nathan Jr.
169	* YouCanSeeThatRight: When Leonard Smalls appears in an explosion on the horizon, H.I. remarks to Ed, "You can see him, too?"
170	* YouShallNotPass: H.I. attempts this, leading to a beatdown.

Context Film / RaisingArizona