Screenplay Structure Analysis

Raising Arizona

Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen · Crime Comedy · 127 pages · 40 scenes · 3-act natural structure · circular organization · Analysis confidence: Low

A repeat offender and an ex-cop wife kidnap one of the famous Arizona quintuplets when they can't have children of their own, leading to chaos as escaped convicts, bounty hunters, and their own guilt threaten their makeshift family.

Tone
Darkly comic, surreal, folksy

Tension curve

Dramatic intensity across Raising Arizona from first page to last, sampled at 40 points on a 0–10 scale. Values: 6, 6, 5.8, 5.2, 5.3, 5.7, 6.7, 6.9, 7, 6.9, 6.9, 7, 7, 6.7, 6.3, 6, 5.9, 5.6, 6.2, 7.2, 8.4, 8.7, 8.5, 8.2, 7.2, 6.5, 6, 6.2, 7, 7.6, 8, 7.8, 8.1, 8.7, 9.3, 9.8, 10, 10, 10, 10.

Structure at a glance

Inciting incident
Page 20, 16% of the script: Hi loads a ladder onto their car as they prepare to execute Ed's plan, then the scene cuts to Nathan Arizona at home discussing business on the phone while his wife Florence reads a baby care book.
Act 1 break
Page 34, 27% of the script: Hi and Ed complete the kidnapping of Nathan Jr. and drive away, launching the main conflict.
Midpoint
Page 66, 52% of the script: Ed angrily drives away abandoning Hi at the store, while Hi emerges to find his getaway car gone and a police car approaching with sirens wailing.
Act 2 break
Page 96, 76% of the script: The trailer is destroyed and Ed leaves Hi, marking the complete breakdown of their attempt at family life.
Climax
Page 114, 90% of the script: Leonard Smalls chases Ed through an alley on his motorcycle until Hi strikes him with a plank, knocking him off his bike, then Smalls throws a knife that pierces Hi's plank as they begin their final fight.
Peak tension
10 out of 10, reached about 92% of the way through; the script averages 7.3.
Average scene length
3.2 pages

Structural personality

This script employs a circular structure that begins and ends with Hi's voice-over reflections, framing the story as a folk tale about redemption. The Coens use an episodic middle section where various forces (escaped convicts, bounty hunter, suspicious friends) converge to destroy Hi and Ed's stolen domestic bliss. The structure mirrors Hi's criminal pattern - he repeatedly cycles through crime, capture, and attempted reform, but this time the stakes involve not just his freedom but his soul and marriage.

Pacing

The pacing accelerates dramatically after the convenience store robbery (scene 15), with increasingly frantic chase sequences and mounting pressure. The middle section slows for character development with Glen and Dot (scene 11), then explodes into sustained action from the bank robbery through the final confrontation (scenes 33-40). The opening moves leisurely through Hi's backstory, establishing the folksy tone before the plot kicks into high gear.

Themes

Similar shapes

Screenplays whose tension curve most closely matches Raising Arizona.

Scene summaries and structural markers are generated by AI analysis of the screenplay text and may contain minor inaccuracies. ScriptGraph analyzes structure and does not reproduce screenplay text.

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