Customer Reviews

Arizona Dream

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Arizona Dream" is a quirky little movie (made in 1991, released in Europe in 1993, and not in the US until 1994) directed by Emir Kusturica that starred Johnny Depp in the early part of his career, alongside veterans Jerry Lewis and Faye Dunaway, and rising contemporaries Lili Taylor and Vincent Gallo. The film had a very limited showing here in the States and for years went without an official US DVD release. In 2010, Warner finally came out with a US release under their Archives label, but their version is the original VHS release that inexplicably edits out 21 minutes from the original theatrical version -- what a shame. In contrast, the non-US region 0 release featured here includes the full 140-minute theater version, in 16:9 widescreen, and in English with optional subtitles. In short, this is the version to get.

The movie itself features Johnny Depp as a young man named Axel who is working for the Department of Fish and Game in New York Harbor tagging fish, but seems to yearn for some greater understanding of the world and people. His cousin Paul, played by Vincent Gallo, tricks him into paying a visit to Arizona to be the best man at the wedding of his uncle Leo, who raised him. Axel is briefly pursuaded to work in the showroom of his uncle's Cadillac lot, but is soon captivated by a visit from eccentric mother Elaine (Dunaway) and her daughter Grace (Taylor), and goes off to stay in their house in the desert. The rest of the film follows Axel's romance with the older Elaine, who longs to become untethered to the world with dreams of flying, and their mutual involvement in a love triangle of sorts with Grace, who herself dreams of and repeatedly attempts suicide. Axel tirelessly builds flying machines to help Elaine, Grace sabotages them (needlessly so, since they never work), Leo tries to rescue Axel away from them, and as Elaine becomes ever-more unhinged, Axel finds his affection transitioning from Elaine to Grace.

The overall tone is both tragic, as the characters struggle to understand and are thwarted in realizing their respective dreams, and absurdly comic, in their misguided efforts to do so. The entire film has a dream-like quality, as people sometimes find themselves levitating and Axel continues to see a flying flounder from his dream about an eskimo family depicted at the start of the movie (the film also bears the subtitle, "The Arrowtooth Waltz," named for the Arrowtooth flounder... I only wish I could get past Kusturica having the flounder flying vertically, rather than correctly on its side as a flatfish), and there are recurring dramatizations of this dream in which Lewis and Depp take on the roles. Unquestionably an indie-arthouse flick, the quirkiness of the movie's characters allow the actors to shine -- Dunaway, in a performance that she would later infamously claim was "brilliant," IS brilliant; Lewis renders an understated display of his comedic chops; Gallo gives hilarious performances renacting scenes from Raging Bull, North by Northwest, and the Godfather; Taylor is excellent as always; and Depp is wonderfully reined-in, reminscent of his role in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" There's also a cute self-referential moment when Gallo mentions Johnny Depp, with Depp sitting quietly and unphased in the background.

I don't know what 21 minutes the Warner edition edited out, but if any of this sounds like your thing (or if, like me, you saw the movie when it first came out and were dying to revisit it), you'll want this full-length version. It's an unassuming, quirky, imperfect, little masterpiece of filmmaking.

This 0 Region version of "Arizona Dream" offers a crystal clear picture and Dolby Sound. The viewer can choose English or Chinese subtitles, but they do not appear unless the option is selected.

The film itself is very off-the-beaten path. Akin to "What's Eating Gilbert Grape" in that Depp's character is the one telling the story throughout.

By far the highlight of the film is Jerry Lewis. The stellar comedian-actor-director-producer plays part himself, part a classic Paramount character, and part Jerry Langford (from "The King of Comedy"). The film is worth a gander even if you simply Fast Forward to his parts.

"Arizona Dream" is like a piece of art and open to a wide range of viewpoints. For example, who is dreaming? Axel and his Uncle Leo (Lewis) or their Inuit counterparts?

Arizona Dream has to be my favorite "odd little movie that could". The first time I watched it, I became more than just a fan of Johnny. I became a lover of his courage while choosing projects. He typically does not make his decisions based on the amount of money he could earn. He waits for a script to speak to him, and picks from the heart. Though one could never be 100% sure of everything this quirky movie is trying to say... It obviously has a great deal of heart, and an over abundance of deliciously strange!

This movie is very different, but it was fun to watch. I would buy it again, and would say it is worth watching. Emir Kustarika is a very creative director, and besides that I worked on this movie as extras casting assistant.

This film is a hidden gem from a great director! This Chinese import is really good quality - it seems even better than whatever version I rented from Netflix. The screenplay is genius. It has Johnny Depp and Vincent Gallo. How can you go wrong?

it is the best movie ever!
a story about a dream, about growing up, about me and you!

Yet another non US version of this movie. I believe there is a market for dvd's in the United States. Maybe if they'd edit in some action sequences and dub in Johnny Depp saying "I'm getting too old for this sh**" it could be released here. . . .blah. The movie itself is a 4 to 5--gave it 3 because of the above issue.