Raising Arizona - Cage does comedy

When you think about it... it's strange that Nicolas Cage hasn't really done more comedy in his career.  His manic, over-acting style certainly lends itself to some humorous outlandish performances that are so extreme that you can only laugh at them.  Here, in an early Coen brothers film, Cage plays 'Hi' - a petty small town criminal who tries to change his ways when he marries a local police woman 'Ed' (Holly Hunter).  Don't think too closely about how an officer of the law could be so easily attracted to such a loser and just get to the part where they find they can't have children.  Therefore, they decide to kidnap one of five babies a local wealthy businessman has recently fathered.

Yeah, it's all not quite as 'believable' as some of the Coen brothers' later films, but, if you just allow yourself to go with it, you'll certainly have some fun.  Of course Cage overacts, but then so do many other characters in the film, all of which mainly relying on behaving like one stereotype or another.  John Goodman in on the cast list, but possibly comes across as a little underused when considering what else he could have brought to the script.

Besides the cast and the completely ludicrous plot, I think 'Raising Arizona's' main selling point is its weirdness.  It's certainly not a 'conventional' film and you really will wonder where it's going at times.  The crazy direction mixed with the sheer randomness of the screenplay really does make it compulsive viewing and you'll soon find yourself being able to forgive the bits in the story that are slightly less believable than the rest (mainly certain 'character motivation choices' here and there).

There are moments that will definitely make you laugh out loud and if you're looking for a film that feels like a B-movie with an A-list cast, or just a fan of the Coen brothers and what to see where they've 'evolved' from, then definitely give this one a go.  It's certainly held up over time and is worth a watch every now and again.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that