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Arizona Dream

Play trailer Poster for Arizona Dream R 1994 1h 59m Comedy Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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87% Tomatometer 15 Reviews 86% Popcornmeter 25,000+ Ratings
Axel (Johnny Depp) gets caught up into the family car business when his cousin, Paul (Vincent Gallo), coaxes him to come to Arizona to attend the wedding of their Uncle Leo (Jerry Lewis). As Axel makes the decision to try selling Cadillacs with his family, he meets an eccentric woman named Elaine (Faye Dunaway) and her equally quirky stepdaughter, Grace (Lili Taylor). Their lives become inextricably intertwined through romance, dreams -- and death.
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Arizona Dream

Arizona Dream

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Critics Consensus

Inscrutably strange, yet undeniably compelling, Arizona Dream is anchored by magnetic performances from Johnny Depp and Faye Dunaway.

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Critics Reviews

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Variety Staff Variety 12/01/2008
Kusturica grafts his sometimes unwieldy Europe-inflected concerns onto brash American landscapes with mixed results. Much is made of dreams that, either spoken of at length or illustrated, are offered in lieu of character development. Go to Full Review
Geoff Andrew Time Out 06/24/2006
The first 'American' film by the director of Time of the Gypsies is every bit as bizarre and imaginative as his earlier work, although it's also maddeningly indulgent and erratic. Go to Full Review
Janet Maslin New York Times 08/30/2004
Even at its full length, showing off a more seductive rhythm and the buoyant humanism that is this director's calling card, it remains as ripe a subject for therapy as for criticism. Go to Full Review
Dennis Schwartz Dennis Schwartz Movie Reviews 06/27/2015
B-
Though entertaining at times, it's not everyone's dream pic. Go to Full Review
TV Guide 06/19/2009
3.5/4
Lewis is only slightly awful, and he and Depp have a nice rapport; Dunaway gives a particularly juicy performance; and Taylor is simply amazing, seemingly able to transform herself physically for every role she plays. Go to Full Review
Film4 Staff Film4 06/19/2009
A peculiar and entrancing gem. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Mo S. @9mr_0 1d فيلم جميل جدا دراما و كوميديا خفيفه موسيقى رائعه و تصوير جميل اضافه قصه حلوه رغم النهاية الحزينه See more Stephen C @bob25009 Jul 22 Funny in 1 hour and 59 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See more Kathryn V 08/03/2024 Real good movie , some good laughs. A little weird. See more Aender S 04/11/2024 I usually like Emir Kusturica's films, but this one's even too weird for his standards. See more S R @ScottR 03/28/2024 Bizarre, tacky and ridiculous. It has some moments, but it doesn't make a whole movie. Jerry Lewis was my favorite part. I saw it for the director and cast. RUS. See more Nisha Y 05/23/2023 The director's aesthetic delights in many artful scenes that escape Hollywood norms while evoking familiarity and wonder. The interesting mix of actors is enough pull on its own, and all the performances are fine. The plot unfolds surreptitiously under the whimsical distractions and includes contradiction and critique, much like a Lynch film, but there is something about this film that makes you wonder why there even has to be one frame, let alone one scene where a woman is getting slapped around, and it makes you realize that Dunaway has been slapped around in so many films. But its hard to condemn the writing/directing because the film ultimately spirals into entropy to any solution, the older woman gets the younger man but it's violent and unstable, the younger guy has a somewhat sweeter encounter with a woman nearer his age, but she is fatal, the older man marrying the younger woman is shown in his hypocrisy in criticizing the older women, and then he dies before his young fiancé has to marry him, so she gets to be free from a marriage that was making her weep. Good vs bad definitions get blurred and spiral down the plug hole via the magnetic pull the Depp character speaks about when relating what his mother had told him. It is rich, interesting but does lose its momentum and reason at times, to a degree where it loses the connection to the viewer, in other words it becomes boring. Well worth the watch for movie lovers, but I think it needs to be kept in mind that this director's controversy includes his support of Putin and Russia's treatment and action in the Ukraine, a dark and destructive streak that runs through his films. See more Read all reviews
Arizona Dream

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Movie Info

Synopsis Axel (Johnny Depp) gets caught up into the family car business when his cousin, Paul (Vincent Gallo), coaxes him to come to Arizona to attend the wedding of their Uncle Leo (Jerry Lewis). As Axel makes the decision to try selling Cadillacs with his family, he meets an eccentric woman named Elaine (Faye Dunaway) and her equally quirky stepdaughter, Grace (Lili Taylor). Their lives become inextricably intertwined through romance, dreams -- and death.
Director
Emir Kusturica
Producer
Yves Marmion, Claudie Ossard
Screenwriter
David Atkins, Emir Kusturica, David Atkins
Distributor
Warner Bros.
Production Co
Constellation
Rating
R
Genre
Comedy, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Sep 9, 1994, Wide
Release Date (Streaming)
Jan 1, 2008
Runtime
1h 59m
Sound Mix
LC-Concept Digital Sound, Dolby, Stereo
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