Paper Moon

Location: Home
Seen Before: No
Rating: 3.5

I went into this with virtually no expectations, other than it would just barely reach mediocrity as I was under the impression that Bogdanovich immediately fizzled out following The Last Picture Show. It isn't the case, though--in fact he's crafted a pretty good little film with Paper Moon. The reason that it does not fall completely flat is due to the outrageously impressive performace by the 10-year-old Tatum O'Neil (as well as a great turn by pop Ryan), perfect cinematography by Laszlo Kovacs, and engaging screenplay by Alvin Sargeant (from the Joe David Brown Novel). Tatum truely shines in a way that few other child actors have, where she completely leads the picture without ever being cutesy or hokey--she transcends the "child actor" moniker completely into purely being an "actor." The only other child performance that is as powerful is Jean-Pierre Leaud's turn in The 400 Blows.
Paper Moon looses steam or, perhaps, doesn't manage to build it properly to begin with. Yes, there is an interest in the story and its characters from the get-go, but I think I felt like I did not understand why Moses was immediately trying to rid himself of Addie. We infer that she would simply be a burden to travel with and look after, but--and I think Bogdanovich does this throughout--scenes are brought to a close before they really feel as if they've naturally come to an end. At the same time I felt the film just moseyed along; certainly we have to see the relationship build between Moses and Addie, but perhaps it seemed as if this was overshown without the ugly head of consequence rearing (until we reach the arrival of Trixie). When the duo get picked up by the cops is when I finally felt a rush in the film, which is obviously much too far along the narrative path.
If there is a sub-genre known as buddy movies, then this film falls into the sub-sub-genre of mismatched buddies where one or both do not like each other, which one can assume with some sort of accuracy that Paper Moon established. Despite my criticisms of the screenplay, I cannot help but give this a 3.5 because of the fine performances, exquisite cinematography, and engaging story.