Arizona Dream (1993)
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.
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.
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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
Jan 6, 1993 Wide
Mar 21, 1995
WARNER BROTHERS PICTURES
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Cast
-
Johnny Depp
Axel Blackmar -
Jerry Lewis
Leo Sweetie -
Faye Dunaway
Elaine Stalker -
Lili Taylor
Grace Stalker -
Vincent Gallo
Paul Leger -
Paulina Porizkova
Millie -
Ann Schulman
Carla -
Michael J. Pollard
Paul -
Tricia Leigh Fisher
Lindy
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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.
Top CriticThe 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.
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.
Depp yet again reveals his unique ability to be the seductive yet compassionate idealist, discovering strength in tenderness.
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.
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...
Someday this fascinating curio by a major European filmmaker will get its full due; this disc doesn't make the attempt.
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.
A peculiar and entrancing gem.
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.
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).
Downright odd comedy that gets better with age.
Johnny Depp and Faye Dunaway must enjoy working together. Perhaps they also enjoy making incomprehensibly inane movies, because that is what Arizona Dream is.
There is so much to like in Arizona Dream that you can't help wondering why you don't like it better.
Audience Reviews for Arizona Dream
Super Reviewer
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.
Super Reviewer
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- Axel Blackmar: Fish know everything and don't need to think.
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- 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.
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Foreign Titles
- El sueño de Arizona (ES)
