Opening

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—— The Hangover Part III May 23
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Arizona Dream

Arizona Dream (1993)

tomatometer

86

Average Rating: 6.9/10
Reviews Counted: 14
Fresh: 12 | Rotten: 2

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

83

Average Rating: 6.7/10
Critic Reviews: 6
Fresh: 5 | Rotten: 1

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

audience

82

liked it
Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 24,871

My Rating

Movie Info

Director Emir Kusturica and screenwriter David Atkins crafted this absurdist comedy in which Johnny Depp plays Axel Blackmer, who lives in New York State and is obsessed with fish. He tags fish and monitors their habits for a living, but his greatest curiosity is when and how they dream. Axel's uncle, Leo Sweetie (Jerry Lewis) would prefer Axel take over the family business, a Cadillac dealership in Tucson, Arizona; against his better judgment, Axel drives from New York to Arizona to check out

R,

Drama, Romance, Comedy

David Atkins

Mar 21, 1995

WARNER BROTHERS PICTURES

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All Critics (14) | Top Critics (6) | Fresh (12) | Rotten (3) | DVD (5)

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.

December 1, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

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.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out
Time Out
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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.

August 30, 2004 Full Review Source: New York Times
New York Times
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Depp yet again reveals his unique ability to be the seductive yet compassionate idealist, discovering strength in tenderness.

February 13, 2001 Full Review Source: Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
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You can't stop watching because nobody in the audience, and possibly nobody on the screen, has any idea what's going to happen next.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Imagination is a gift. It bestows power, insight and the ability to dream. It takes courage to dream on a big scale, which is what Emir Kusturica does in Arizona Dream, a wonderfully absurdist comedy...

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Someday this fascinating curio by a major European filmmaker will get its full due; this disc doesn't make the attempt.

April 7, 2010 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine

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.

June 19, 2009 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide
TV Guide's Movie Guide

A peculiar and entrancing gem.

June 19, 2009 Full Review Source: Film4
Film4

A trule bizarre, surreal fable, flaunting yet another eccentric performance from the very young and handsome Johnny Depp; Faye Dunaway, as his love interest, and Lili Tomlin are also good.

August 8, 2005 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com
EmanuelLevy.Com

David Lynch, you've got a target on your back. Compelling and strange, worth seeking out if you can find it (which ain't easy).

February 10, 2005 Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com
Filmcritic.com

Downright odd comedy that gets better with age.

April 24, 2003
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

Johnny Depp and Faye Dunaway must enjoy working together. Perhaps they also enjoy making incomprehensibly inane movies, because that is what Arizona Dream is.

June 5, 2002 Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine
Boxoffice Magazine

There is so much to like in Arizona Dream that you can't help wondering why you don't like it better.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: San Francisco Examiner
San Francisco Examiner

Audience Reviews for Arizona Dream

A young New Yorker is kidnapped by his brother to attend his uncle's wedding, only to fall for an eccentric older woman obsessed with the idea of flight. Arizona Dream is perfectly titled; this film is exactly as much fun as somebody describing one of their dreams to you. For two and a quarter hours. The whole thing is just a load of "wacky" characters doing "crazy" things and talking about Eskimos, turtles and suicide. All of them are as irritating as hell and the dialogue (particularly the painful narration by Depp) is excruciatingly pretentious. I literally couldn't care less about any of them and the only reason I made it to the end of the film is because the DVD cover lied, saying it was half an hour shorter than it was. Very typical of the post Gen X bullshit touted by self-proclaimed "arthouse" auteurs in the 90s, the biggest tragedy of this pointless load of self-satisfied yet irrelevant and vacuous drivel is the fact that there are now two wasted hours of my life I will never get back. A film only someone Johnny Depp has an active restraining order against could possibly love.
May 25, 2007
garyX
xGary Xx

Super Reviewer

Axel: But what's the point of breathing if somebody already tells you the difference between an apple and a bicycle? If I bite a bicycle and ride an apple, then I'll know the difference.

Arizona Dream is much like a dream as it jumps from scene to scene and we don't know what happened in between. It is a very odd movie; with increasingly weird scenes and sights appearing. With all that being said it is still very watchable and I found myself watching with interest to what would occur next. Johnny Depp stars in a fairly early role and that was the main reason I watched the movie. It's very original, but I felt that story never really came together as good as it could have.
June 25, 2011
blkbomb
Melvin White

Super Reviewer

    1. Axel Blackmar: Fish know everything and don't need to think.
    – Submitted by Tomas K (7 months ago)
    1. Axel Blackmar: But what's the point of breathing if somebody already tells you the difference between an apple and a bicycle? If I bite a bicycle and ride an apple, then I'll know the difference.
    – Submitted by Anastasia B (2 years ago)

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Foreign Titles

  • El sueño de Arizona (ES)
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