Negative reviews focused on a "style over substance" view of the film. "Variety" wrote, "While ["Raising Arizona"] is filled with many splendid touches and plenty of yocks, it often doesn't hold together as a coherent story." Writing for "The New York Times", Vincent Canby wrote, "Like "Blood Simple", it's full of technical expertise but has no life of its own ... The direction is without decisive style." Julie Salamon of the "Wall Street Journal" wrote that the Coen Brothers "have a lot of imagination and sense of fun—and, most of all, a terrific sense of how to manipulate imagery," but "by the end, the fun feels a little forced." Dave Kehr of the "Chicago Tribune" wrote that "the overlooked form peels away from the slight, frail content, and the film starts to look like an episode of "Hee Haw" directed by an amphetamine-crazed Orson Welles". Roger Ebert wrote a negative review, stating the film "stretches out every moment for more than it's worth, until even the moments of inspiration seem forced. Since the basic idea of the movie is a good one and there are talented people in the cast, what we have here is a film shot down by its own forced and mannered style."