Paper Moon (1973) – A
small-time grifter gets saddled with an orphan who might be his
daughter. A temporary burden grows into a challenging
partnership.
Directed by Peter Bogdanovich
Starring Ryan O’Neal, Tatum O’Neal, Madeline Kahn
Why
I Liked It – The strange chemistry of actual father and daughter
translates into powerful on-screen performances.
This
movie was on my “I Should Watch This Movie Some Day” list.
No particular reason not to watch it, I never got around to it. Ryan
O’Neill never did much for me, either so it became a huge “Someday”
movie. I stumbled on it while surfing through all the new channels available to me now that I’ve become a “cord-cutter”. It
was a quiet afternoon, so I dove right in.
Turns out
I’ve been missing something special. The real-life relationship between the O’Neals was difficult. Ryan’s well-known volatility was part of his relationship with Tatum. The tension between the
real-life father and daughter works beautifully here. There is a
sneaking suspicion that Addie is Moses’s daughter. He has no need
for a child, and she suspects all adults are about to abandon her.
By his own admission, Ryan O’Neal has been a bad father in real
life. Here was the chance to put that to use on the
screen.
Watching Addie and Moses work their way through
distrust to a working, if still dysfunctional, relationship is the
heart of the movie. Tatum not only had to deal with her imperfect
father but a director that didn’t think much of her as an actress.
He has called working with the 10-year-old one of the worst
experiences of his life. She won the Best Supporting Actress Oscar
for her work. Between the three of them, they created an amazing
reality in the movie.
A quick word about several
outstanding members of the supporting cast. Madeline Kahn as
Moses’s latest fling, Dixie, isn’t on the screen for very long but
is wonderful. More understated here than the roles she’s best known for, we get another glimpse of how great a talent she was. In a
nice two-part role is John Hillerman, who plays both the local
sheriff and his bootlegger twin brother. He had to put on a
significant amount of weight to shoot the one role, then lose it all
again for the other.
What results is a funny, poignant,
occasionally edgy movie that I’m sorry I didn’t watch sooner.
Rating – ****Recommended
Stories Are My Life 
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