One of the biggest shames I’ve ever encountered in my journey of being a film lover is that Peter Bogdanovich is not more highly regarded. Sure, cinephiles adore him, but why is he hardly ever included in lists of the greatest filmmakers of all time, when he certainly belongs on such lists? His streak between 1968 and 1973 is one of the greatest of all time, and he capped off that great period with one of the most brilliant films that I have ever seen. Paper Moon is a delightfully quirky, sweet little comedy that has stood the test of time, but seems to be painfully underrated, which is a complete shame because it truly deserves to be loved and adored.
I am always very reluctant of child actors. Sure, they can be adorable, but sometimes their cuteness distracts from the fact that a lot of them can’t really act too well – its not their fault, no one expects a five-year old to be trained in Strasberg. However, there are some truly iconic performances from child actors that belong in the Hall of Fame – my personal favorites are Justin Henry in Kramer vs. Kramer, and Danny Lloyd in The Shining. I can now confidently add another name to that list – Tatum O’Neal, who gives what I consider to be the greatest performance by a child actor in a film…ever. She transcends being a child star here and goes for the jugular in her performance, and just becomes quite simply a star. You cannot take your eyes off her – she is just so damn good. She commands the screen brilliantly, and holds her own against all the adults in the cast. There is a reason she holds the record for youngest ever Academy Award winner – a performance like this begs for a record. It is a history-making performance and truly brilliant.
But we can’t ignore Tatum’s father, Ryan, who is equally brilliant as Moses Pray, the conniving, cunning conman out on a mission to fool old widows into buying his customized Bibles. When your entire film involves confidence scams, you need someone truly charismatic to play the role, and Ryan is just that. Its a shame his career faded away not long after this, because if his career between 1970 and 1973 shows, he was a charming and suave leading man who had the looks to romance and the humour to charm. His performance as Moses is so wonderful, and while he is frequently upstaged by his daughter, he still gives a marvelous performance. The key to this film’s brilliance is the heartwarming chemistry Ryan and Tatum have. Casting real-life father and daughter in the lead roles is bound to be interesting and yield fascinating results, but the ability they had to play off each other was truly magical to watch. It was a shame that not long after this, Ryan and Tatum drifted apart and became estranged, which gives this film a very melancholic tone when you watch it again.
Madeline Kahn was one of the greatest comedic minds in history, and she is absolutely hilarious here as Trixie Delight, the villainous and nasty showgirl that Moses falls for and is the object of Addie’s hatred. Kahn is so good in this role, the viewer starts to despise her as well, even though she does nothing wrong. Kahn was such a fantastic actress, and its an absolute shame she has departed, because she deserved many more decades of amazing work, and Paper Moon just serves to remind us about how excellent she was as an actress and comedian.
The key to the success of Paper Moon, other than the sparkling chemistry of the leads, is that the script was crisp and hilarious. It was always brief but funny, and created some great quotable lines. Bogdanovich geniusly adapts the novel on which this film is based, and wrote a screenplay that gave the actors some wonderful dialogue to work with, but also allowed them to experiment with their characters and make their roles their own. It is never forced or artificial, which is a theme common in most of Bogdanovich’s work.
On a purely directorial level, Paper Moon is a very high achievement. Filmed gorgeously in black and white, and shot on beautifully detailed sets resembling the Dust Bowl during the Great Depression. Bogdanovich not only has amazing talent behind the typewriter, he is a brilliant visual storyteller, and obeys the age old tradition of “show, don’t tell” – there are several implications that run through this film, and instead of resolving them, the viewer is trusted to be smart enough to answer these questions for themselves. The subtle touches Bogdanovich puts on this film give all the answers we could possibly need. In an age where stories need to be told to us in films, where something subtle or ambiguous is frowned upon, a film like Paper Moon could never be made as effectively as it was here.
Paper Moon is just a delightful film. That really is all that needs to be said. It is funny and quirky and so heartwarming. It is an absolute treasure of a film, and I wish everyone in the world could see this film, because it just deserves to be more widely seen. It is absolutely fantastic, and deserves more love and praise, and even though it is 42 years later, it isn’t too late for this film to get the following it deserves! So if you haven’t seen it, please seek it out – it truly is worth it.
The Postmodern Pelican 
Gee, I feel guilty writing this. I suspect megalomaniacal Ryan O’Neal has searched the Web far and wide to find another human soul who agrees with him that he is brilliant and marked this page on his computer’s favorites. Yet, here I go disagreeing.
Paper Moon is a delightful confection of authentic period art design, knee slapping humor and profanity that still feels naughty. The movie is a lot of fun and remains so on repeated viewings.
Paper Moon is remembered primarily for ten year old Tatum O’Neal’s superb portrayal of Addie Loggins, the motherless child who takes up with a con man who may or may not be her father. Ms. O’Neal won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. Had she not been a victim of category fraud, it is highly likely she would have won the Best Actress prize. She is that good (and the front runners were a bevy of previous winners).
However, the above review compels me to talk about Ryan O’Neal. O’Neal had been a Best Actor nominee three years earlier, coasting on an AMPAS flood of check every possible box (seven nominations) to recognize the weepy, box office smash Love Story. Hollywood rather rightfully perceived O’Neal was going to be a star. He had graduated from a pretty boy lead in a five year stint on a TV soap opera to headline one of the biggest box office successes of all time. Love Story made $136 million in 1970. To give perspective, two years later The Godfather was anointed the biggest box office hit of all time with $142 million in ticket sales.
One of the wonders of Tatum O’Neal’s performance here is that it is easily evident that director Peter Bogdanovich does not use the tricks of quick edits and line readings off camera to build the young girl’s performance in the editing room. Ms. O’Neal is the real deal and before she wasted her talents in drug addiction continued to give terrific follow up portrayals in popular summer comedies including Little Darlings and The Bad News Bears.
Ryan O’Neal looked good in Love Story, a task not so different from his work on that long running TV soap. Another reason he impressed is that he played opposite some truly bad actors. Ali MacGraw is so inept that it is hard not wince every time she opens her mouth. Oscar winner Ray Milland is so bloated that his physical discomfort distracts from each scene he ruins.
In his other follow up films to Love Story, Barry Lyndon, Wild Rovers, and The Thief Who Came to Dinner, Ryan O’Neal provided a clear indication of his limited skill set in front of the camera when asked to play something beyond pretty and could only provide wooden. Mr. O’Neal did find a friend in Peter Bogdanovich who starred the handsome star in no less than three well reviewed films following Love Story – Paper Moon, What’s Up, Doc? and Nickelodean.
Yet, when we study these films we see that the techniques to shape a child’s performance in the editing room are employed by Oscar winning veteran Verna Fields (Jaws) to shape Mr. O’Neal’s performance. As both characters Howard Bannister and Moses Pray, Mr. O’Neal relies on the slow burn. We now know that the actor has a noted problem with anger and can be fairly certain that the performance is more his natural disposition than acting. He never created another memorable performance in the next 40 years.
Paper Moon is a sound entertainment, but it would struggle to find a place on my ten best list of 1973 over such greats as Badlands, Day for Night, and Amarcord.