Where i Watched it: Starz

English Audio Description?: No

I do like to continue to check on services like Starz that currently offer no audio description, in addition to reviewing titles on services that do, but don’t on a specific title, so we can discuss what we are missing. or, perhaps, the film might be watchable. There are some rare exceptions where a dialogue driven film is so limited in locations and set in modern times that it can work. The terrific recent indie Mass is an example of simplicity with a focus on dialogue.

The Coen Brothers are known for their scripts as much as anything else, and their often fantastic dialogue. So, this was as fair of a shake as anyone could ever get. It is my first time with Raising Arizona, an early Coen work that feels like they are still warming up to something grander.

Nicolas Cage and holly Hunter play a young couple who long to be parents, and through happenstance, wind up stealing a baby and pretending it’s theirs. Cage’s old ex-con friends swing by to hang out, and everything continues to get more complicated as this young couple realize how unprepared they are, which shows to the people in their lives. It doesn’t hurt that a reward is being offered for the baby’s return.

What I liked about this was seeing these early versions of these actors. John Goodman especially, as his casting here predates not only his terrific job in the Coen classic The Big Lebowski, but also his run on TV’s Roseanne. It’s like watching a baby being born. All of the things that made Goodman so endearing in other roles, and such a choice surprise villain in the Cloverfield franchise, are cooking on screen here.

This is also the least Nic Cage that Cage has ever been. I know he seems to have fallen into his own tropes, but his performance here is actually quite restrained. It’s the opposite of over the top. In many ways, he comes across as shy and unassuming, almost the exact opposite of the level of intensity he would gradually be known for.

However, the lack of audio description not just robbed me of being able to know what the shots look like, but there’s also a bounty hunter character who seems to have a certain mystique. We don’t really get to explore that, and when he eventually has his run in with the couple, that scene lacked dialogue, and I had no idea what was going on for the duration of that moment, which lasted about five minutes.

Yes, the Coen Brothers have written quirky characters and fun dialogue, but there’s too much happening here to say ignore the lack of accessibility. At the center of this film is a non-verbal character whose location it is always good to know, and we can’t be always told what’s happening with the baby through dialogue.

If I could tell the Starz executives why this is important, I’d tell them to pick a film and watch it blindfolded. Do they think that experience is what is fair to put out into the world? For a classic that will continue to be revisited like Raising Arizona, it’s time to step up and do the right thing. Starz needs to provide audio description. Until such time, even though I think I would enjoy this film (even if it won’t be my favorite Coen work), I have to go low here.

Final Grade: unwatchable