Arizona Dream

After The King Of Comedy, Jerry Lewis found himself in demand once again and being sought out by some fairly hip directors. One of those filmmakers was Serbian filmmaker Emir Kusturica who cast Lewis in his only American film, 1993's Arizona Dream.

Johnny Depp stars as Axle, an aimless young man who is more than happy tagging fish on the east coast. His simple life quickly becomes chaotic when his cousin, Vincent Gallo, shows up and forces Axel to come home to Arizona to attend his uncle's, Lewis, wedding. His uncle has ulterior motives for Axel and wants him to take over the family car dealership. Axel hates the idea, but decides to help his uncle out. Things start to look up for him however when he meets an odd lady named Elaine, Faye Dunaway, and her suicidal stepdaughter Grace, Lili Taylor. Axle and Elaine start up a romance as he helps her make her dream of inventing a flying machine become a reality.

To say that this film is eccentric is a bot of an understatement. The film has a game cast that seems to be having a blast. I'll admit it's not for everyone's tastes, but if you are looking something quirky it might be up your alley.

Filmed in 1991 but not released in the US until 1994, the movie was a tricky sell for it's studio Warner Brothers. But thanks to Depp's growing popularity, they decided to release it in three theaters and with twenty minutes trimmed from it.

Arizona Dream is a strange but fun ride.

It's available on dvd thru Warner Archive.