i love raising arizona, but i hate intolerable cruelty.

i just watched raising arizona. it's an old film, but an excellent one! the camera angles are frenetic and exciting. the movie moves at such a fast, gripping pace as the plot escalates. all the actors were excellent in their roles. "intolerable cruelty" is similarly patterned after it in terms of stylistic choices and flourishes. it almost followed the blueprint of "raising arizona". yet "cruelty" falls flat and looks like it's made by someone who is ripping of the coen brothers.

i think cruelty is awful because of clooney's performance. he's mugging all throughout the film. whereas in raising arizona, all the performances are twisted, outlandish yet completely grounded. nicholas cage, john goodman and holly hunter are all showy and excellent. the action sequences are excellently choreographed.

Blood Simple.