‘ARIZONA’ Review

2009 — the housing market has collapsed. Somewhere in Arizona, a Spanish-named subdivision (of which there are plenty) remains unfinished. This was going to be luxury estates, replete with a full golf course attached…and now it’s a square of large houses surrounded by dirt. Kelsey (Rosemarie DeWitt) is a real estate agent who resides in one of the estates (because why not) with her daughter Morgan (Lolli Sorenson), is struggling to make ends meet. Nobody is buying in this market. After a discussion with her boss (Seth Rogan), another client comes in. This is Sonny (Danny McBride), a man whose life is collapsing. Sonny and her boss argue, and an accident brings Cassie and Sonny together (whether she likes it or not). Using her sales and people skills, she attempts to find a common ground with Sonny… which has the opposite effect. Sonny has major trust issues, among many others. After another disastrous altercation, this time with Sonny’s ex-wife (Kaitlin Olson), the situation doubles and the danger intensifies. Kelsey’s daughter is now also involved, and they must find out how to escape the clutches of a very deranged, desperate man in the middle of a psychotic break.

There are a lot of areas where I felt Arizona pushing against being as crazy as it wanted to be, but it felt like it was too grounded in reality. It was kind of a schizophrenic experience…but I enjoyed what it was. This is a perfect role for Danny McBride, the kind that he absolutely thrives in. Frequent collaborators David Gordon Green and Jody Hill are producers here, those who have worked on Eastbound and Down and Vice Principals, among others. McBride’s wheelhouse is sociopathic, eccentric, and somehow still likable and you usually end up rooting for him. You can’t help but feel for his Sonny as life continues to go downhill and his desperation grows. He didn’t set out for this, but he’s seeing it all through no matter how far it ends up going. Likewise you feel for Rosemarie DeWitt’s dire situation, just trying to provide a good life for her daughter in a bad place, and suddenly drawn into a world of murder and insanity. She’s a great actress, and I enjoyed her presence even if it wasn’t the best character.

The rest of the cast includes Luke Wilson and Elizabeth Gillies as Cassie’s ex-husband and current wife, and David Alan Grier as the one and only lawman for the area. For some reason there is some serious talent in this cast, especially comedically, and the script doesn’t give them much to do. I would assume they signed on because of the creative team. This is director Jonathan Watson’s debut feature after years of second unit work, but the script comes from Luke Del Tredici, who’s worked on 30 Rock and Brooklyn Nine-Nine along with a handful of other comedies. Arizona is billed as a dark comedy but doesn’t seem to deliver on either as well as it hopes to. The script is pretty good, it just felt like it wanted to be darker and funnier, and just didn’t get there. Maybe that’s on Watson, but he’s an otherwise solid director. There are some violent surprises that are pretty expertly captured and achieved, and the look of the film is pretty great. Everything culminates in a satisfying conclusion, and I was overall pleased.

Arizona is a dark comedy that works as a mildly crazy companion to The Big Short. It’s full of thankless roles from great actors, and a great performance from Danny McBride that isn’t unlike his other greatest hits collection of damaged characters. I won’t remember this movie in the long run, but I had a good time. Arizona is currently available on VOD platforms courtesy of RLJ Entertainment!