Arizona - Movie Review

Yesterday's trip to the theater was to see the newly released dark comedy Arizona. I have long been a fan of Danny McBride who stars as victim of the 2008 housing crisis. The story tediously ties together a struggling real estate agent and the failed entrepreneur whose temper and poor decision making spins out of control. What begins as an argument rapidly escalates to murder and mayhem.

Sonny (McBride) lives in a partially constructed subdivision outside of Phoenix, Arizona. It is 2009, on the heels of the housing crisis. Most of the houses in the gated community remain unoccupied. The neighboring golf course was never completed, either. It also appears that Sonny's idea, ice cubes made of wine (Miami Wice) didn't do very well. With his marriage on the rocks and his house ready to foreclose, Sonny is at the end of his rope. He crosses paths with Cassie (Rosemarie Dewitt) who is a real estate agent who lives in another planned community that went sideways when the housing bubble burst. Like Sonny, her marriage is also on the rocks. When Cassie witnesses a murder, things go downhill fast. What begins as a bad day becomes a battle for survival against a deranged man.

Luke Del Tredici has written for several sitcoms. Arizona appears to be his first feature length film. He chose a dark comedy to flex his writing muscle. He could have used some help. While this film manages to be funny, it is also tedious. The characters are interesting, but hard to identify with. The film meanders downhill with uneven pacing, heading to a dramatic apex that ties the rather flat story together in a nice bloody, fiery bow. I know it is a comedy, but the underlying story could have been much better. This was also Jonathan Watson's premiere as director. He has some experience, but he didn't seem to have a great foundation to work with. It felt poorly conceived.

Danny McBride can usually make me laugh without much effort. He was a smart choice for this film, because he made it a bit better than it should have been. I am not sure I would have cast DeWitt in this film, but she was excellent. I really liked her in the role. She brought a tiny bit of credibility to the film. Other known names like Kaitlyn Olsen (where has she been?), David Alan Grier, Luke Wilson and Seth Rogan (who is not even listed in the credits) are all throw-away characters. Most of them have a handful of lines at most. McBride and DeWitt carry the film, making it mildly tolerable.

Arizona has not been rated. If/when the MPAA rates this film, it will likely receive an R rating. The film is a dark comedy, which comes complete with several murders. The murders have a decent gore factor, which will likely push this film into R territory. The film also has strong language, alcohol, and mild adult themes. The lead character also ends up in just a bra near the end of the film, which didn't make a lot of sense to me contextually. But hey, it's a dark comedy, I think it was supposed to be funny. In any event, this film is violent. Teen audiences or better would be my recommendation.

Arizona started with a decent premise for a dark comedy. It seems that the film would have been better with more complete character development, better pacing and a stronger plot. It is a linear film that just feels like a train going off the tracks without a lot of substance. You pretty much know what's coming. The humor built into the script is partially sight gags, but mostly situational humor. I laughed pretty good at times, but the film could have been funnier as well. It was okay. Good enough to stream on a rainy day. If nothing else is on. 6/10.

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