Paper Moon

As cute and sharp as it's 9-year-old star Tatum O'Neal, Paper Moon is a bona-fide gem that says that, one way or another, we're all con artists. The acting is wonderful (Ryan O'Neal was never better), the cinematography is exceptional and it's to the eternal credit of director Bogdanovich and his writer Alvin Sargeant that the caper never sinks into mushiness. By avoiding the earnestness that pervades so many Depression Era tales and perfectly balancing character with situation, it rolls along so merrily that you don't realise how touching it is until the very end.

Having (criminally) never seen Paper Moon before, I suspect that it must have had more than a passing influence on a great many other movies, including my all-time favourite Midnight Run. Watching it is an experience to be savoured and treasured, and one that I'm looking forward to repeating time and again.

Unlike many films of the early 1970s, plenty before and after, viewing this doesn't continually remind you of the time of its creation, but instead deposits you into the age of the Great Depression where your mind resides for the duration.

The development of the relationship between Moses and Addie is near perfect, their capers, scrapes and mischief endearingly conjuring a bond they both desperately need. I didn't expect this to be anything like as engrossing, charming and engaging as it was, perhaps being the father of two daughters with attitude enhanced the experience, but whatever it was left a lasting impression.

Paper Moon is one hell of a movie. I saw this film as a 10 year old in 1973 and loved it then as I do now at 39. Set in Depression era Kansas, it is story of the relationship between Addie, a smart talking 7 year old, and Moses, a bible selling con man who might be her father. The on screen chemistry between Ryan and Tatum O'Neal is fantastic. Madeline Kahn is great as a side show floosey they pick up along the way and she almost steals the show! Filmed in Kansas and Missouri, director Peter Bogdonavich used local people in cameo roles which adds to the authentic feel of the film. Also to the director's credit, this film may be one the best to portray 1930's America. All in all, Paper Moon is full of great characters and a fine story line. On a personal note, I saw this film with my 90 year old grandmother and she laughed throughout the film and said it was one the best films she ever saw. That's not a bad recomendation coming from someone born in 1883!

True, TATUM O'NEIL won an Oscar for her role as Addie Pray in PAPER MOON and fully deserved it. Her dad, RYAN O'NEIL must have been proud of her but his only reward was a Golden Globe nomination.

The con artist and little girl theme had been used before in Damon Runyon's famous comedy "Little Miss Marker" with Shirley Temple and Adolphe Menjou. But here the twist is that the girl is just as much a con artist as the man--and that's the key that makes the film so much more palatable for 1970s audiences without getting too sentimental about it.

There's a real Depression-era feeling to the whole story, with some richly detailed panoramas of rural America and its citizens at that time in history. Peter Bogdanovich has done a commendable job in making sure that his authentic backgrounds illuminate an enchanting tale about two drifters who share an unusual partnership when it becomes clear to the man that the girl would be a valuable aid in his con work.

There's a bright supporting role by MADELINE KAHN as Trixie Delight, a stripper who tosses off some good one-liners, but it's the chemistry between Tatum and Ryan that turns this into the most satisfying "buddy" movie of the '70s.

Summing up: A treat not to be missed.

The Last Picture Show was a great film about small-town usual Americans, and in Paper Moon the director proceeded to represent this idea. It is made very thoroughly and tells us a story in a very gripping way. It really takes a talent to make a film without shoking or brand new ideas so great. The film is plain and it's story is quite simple, but this wonderful storytelling, directing and acting make Paper Moon a brilliant. Ryan and Tatum O'Neal made their job on the highest level and look very charming together. Every movie fan should see this masterpiece.