The Coen brothers (Ethan and Joel) are two of the most creative and most demented people working in hollywood today. For anyone who doesn't know they are a writing and directing team that is responsible for a series of mostly hilarious movies with the occasional horror tinged movie thrown in. Their most popular movie with younger viewers is probably The Big Lebowski with the iconic character Dave the dude. But it was Raising Arizona that got it all started. Actually, Blood Simple pre-dates Raising Arizona but that is a serious movie with fewer of the well known Coen brothers quirks than Raising Arizona has so I stand by my characterization.
Synopsis (spoiler free)
Before the opening credits ever run in the movie we are treated to the meeting and courtship of H.I. McDunnough and his future wife Edwina - the fact that the courtship takes place as H.I. is having his mugshots taken by Edwina is classic Coen brothers. They are filled with hope for the future until they find out that Edwina cannot have children. Coincidentally, the wife of local businessman Nathan Arizona has quints and is quoted in the newspaper as saying that she basically too many. H.I. and Ed decide to even things out a bit for both families and that is when the action really begins. Believe it or not all of this information and exposition doesn't spoil the movie - so much happens after they decide to get one of the babies it would be nearly impossible to summarize here.
This movie is quite simply hilarious. Funny lines, funny images, funny accents, funny characters, memorable lines .... all are part of a Coen brothers movie in general and Raising Arizona in particular. I'm not usually a big Nicolas Cage fan but he is genuinely hilarious in this movie as is Holly Hunter. This is John Goodman's first appearance as a Coen brother's staple. Academy award winner Frances McDormand (Mrs. Joel Coen) is also present here as the quirkiest and most hilarious supporting character. I wholeheartedly recommend this for the first time or the fifteenth - it just seems to get funnier every time I see it.
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Family. Show all posts
Thursday, June 5, 2014
Thursday, May 29, 2008
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
I recently had a discussion with my book club about the psychological effects of World War II on its veterans and whether it was different from other wars. This movie is a little bit of an answer to that question. The Best Years of Our Lives is a remarkably relevant look at the difficulties encountered by soldiers returning home. Remarkable because the soldiers in this movie were returning home from World War II, the War that retains virtually no moral ambiguity, the war fought by the greatest generation, the good war. Despite those positive differences between these veterans and the veterans of Vietnam or Iraq, coming home could still be difficult as William Wyler's brilliant movie demonstrates.
The movie centers on three veterans who return via the same military cargo plane to their hometown of Boone City, Iowa. The eldest is played by Frederic March, who had been a star for more than 20 years by 1946, and was beloved for his many comedy rolls. He was a mere Sergeant in the army who is now returning to his wife, Myrna Loy, and his children, Peggy, Theresa Wright, who is in her very early 20s and Rob, who's still in high school. Assuming he's been gone for the duration of the war, it means he left them as a high school girl and a pubescent boy. He's barely arrived and he gets the call from his former boss at the local bank to start working again. work that seems far less interesting or important than it did before D-day.
The next is Fred Derry, played by Dana Andrews. He's spent the war years as one of the glamor boys of the air force, as the members of the other services are happy to rib him for. Unfortunately, he didn't feel much like a glamor boy since he spent the war as a bombardier who saw too many of his friends torn apart by Anti-aircraft guns. Most importantly, there is little call for a bombardier's skills in civilian life, so Fred finds himself moving from his relatively large pay as an officer in the Air Force to a disappointing return to his old job as a soda jerk at the local pharmacy, which has unfortunately been bought out by a national chain since left. His personal life is worse, as he comes to realize that he and his wife, whom he married just before he shipped out, have nothing in common. In fact she is, to use 1946 vernacular, quite common.
Finally, the youngest vet with the hardest transition is Homer played by real life wounded veteran Harold Russell. He won an Oscar for his portrayal, though I'm sure he would have preferred more work as an actor instead. He was forced to sell his Oscar shortly before his death because he needed the money (although I seem to recall that Stephen Spielberg heard about his predicament and bought the Oscar at an inflated price so....). At any rate, Russell (and Homer) lost both arms below the elbows in a fire resulting from his ship being bombed. He's been fitted with and taught how to use hooks, but needless to say this causes no small stir in Boone City, Iowa. Remember that we are dealing with a time when a man had been President for 13 years and had successfully hid from most of the public that he was unable to walk. The fact that Roosevelt was able to hide this, and felt the need to hide this is certainly an indication of the view of the disabled at that time. On the outside, Homer seems fine with his disability, but we are given a few glimpses into his limitations and the attitude of the outside world that can still make us think about what is means to be severely wounded in war.
All of these lives intersect and affect each other in a wonderful story. Of course, everything works out for the best in the end (this is peak studio power days, after all) but the journey to that happy ending was truly revolutionary at the time and can still teach us a great deal today. This movie won 7 Oscars including wins for Best Picture, Robert Sherwood's screenplay, William Wyler's direction and the acting of Frederic March and Harold Russell. All are well deserved. It's a movie I've seen dozens of times and it still holds my interest. The story is so universal and if you get bored there are wonderful moments with the famous songwriter Hoagy Carmichael who plays Harold Russell's uncle. Overall just a wonderful movie.
The movie centers on three veterans who return via the same military cargo plane to their hometown of Boone City, Iowa. The eldest is played by Frederic March, who had been a star for more than 20 years by 1946, and was beloved for his many comedy rolls. He was a mere Sergeant in the army who is now returning to his wife, Myrna Loy, and his children, Peggy, Theresa Wright, who is in her very early 20s and Rob, who's still in high school. Assuming he's been gone for the duration of the war, it means he left them as a high school girl and a pubescent boy. He's barely arrived and he gets the call from his former boss at the local bank to start working again. work that seems far less interesting or important than it did before D-day.
The next is Fred Derry, played by Dana Andrews. He's spent the war years as one of the glamor boys of the air force, as the members of the other services are happy to rib him for. Unfortunately, he didn't feel much like a glamor boy since he spent the war as a bombardier who saw too many of his friends torn apart by Anti-aircraft guns. Most importantly, there is little call for a bombardier's skills in civilian life, so Fred finds himself moving from his relatively large pay as an officer in the Air Force to a disappointing return to his old job as a soda jerk at the local pharmacy, which has unfortunately been bought out by a national chain since left. His personal life is worse, as he comes to realize that he and his wife, whom he married just before he shipped out, have nothing in common. In fact she is, to use 1946 vernacular, quite common.
Finally, the youngest vet with the hardest transition is Homer played by real life wounded veteran Harold Russell. He won an Oscar for his portrayal, though I'm sure he would have preferred more work as an actor instead. He was forced to sell his Oscar shortly before his death because he needed the money (although I seem to recall that Stephen Spielberg heard about his predicament and bought the Oscar at an inflated price so....). At any rate, Russell (and Homer) lost both arms below the elbows in a fire resulting from his ship being bombed. He's been fitted with and taught how to use hooks, but needless to say this causes no small stir in Boone City, Iowa. Remember that we are dealing with a time when a man had been President for 13 years and had successfully hid from most of the public that he was unable to walk. The fact that Roosevelt was able to hide this, and felt the need to hide this is certainly an indication of the view of the disabled at that time. On the outside, Homer seems fine with his disability, but we are given a few glimpses into his limitations and the attitude of the outside world that can still make us think about what is means to be severely wounded in war.
All of these lives intersect and affect each other in a wonderful story. Of course, everything works out for the best in the end (this is peak studio power days, after all) but the journey to that happy ending was truly revolutionary at the time and can still teach us a great deal today. This movie won 7 Oscars including wins for Best Picture, Robert Sherwood's screenplay, William Wyler's direction and the acting of Frederic March and Harold Russell. All are well deserved. It's a movie I've seen dozens of times and it still holds my interest. The story is so universal and if you get bored there are wonderful moments with the famous songwriter Hoagy Carmichael who plays Harold Russell's uncle. Overall just a wonderful movie.
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