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Rating: 5 out of 5
The Great Depression was a hard time for many families. My grandparents grew up in the Depression. Trust me when I say that whenever my grandma was about to buy something and it seemed way too expensive, her go-to saying was, “I grew up in the Depression.” How can you argue with that statement? Yet, there have been many movies about the Depression or set within the Depression. Movies like the Grapes of Wrath, Of Mice and Men, and plenty of gangster films. Usually, those films show how hard life is, and people are going hungry. Well, Paper Moon is a delightful film that shows a pair of unlikely people coming together to make their own way during the Depression.
Set in the farmlands in the Midwest during the Great Depression, Moses “Moze” Pray (O’Neal) is a traveling Bible-selling con man. Moze go to con is driving around to different towns and reading about men who just died. Moze rolls up to the widow’s house and claims that the dead husband ordered a specific Bible with their name on it. Moze collects the money and moves on. When Moze stops a Kansas funeral of a woman he’d once known. During the funeral, the woman’s nine-year-old daughter, Addie (O’Neal), is in attendance. Moze is convinced to take Addie to St. Joseph, Mo, in exchange for money. Moze convinces the brother of the man who accidentally killed Addie’s mother to give him $200 for the orphaned Addie. After spending the money on fixing his Model A and buying her a train ticket, Addie believes that she is owed $200. After an intense argument, Moze agrees to let Addie travel with him until he repays her the $200. As the pair travel around, they soon become a formidable con artist pair.
Honestly, I was freakin surprised by how good this movie was. I will return to the story, but the chemistry propels this film. The film stars the real-life father and daughter pairing of Ryan and Tatum O’Neal as Moze and Addie. You can tell they can’t stand each other initially as their characters. One wants her money, and the other can’t wait to raise enough to get rid of the other. Addie and Moze bicker so much at each other that you honestly don’t know how they survived. First, the diner scene is special. Seeing Moze and Addie fight about the $200 was funny. Addie meant business, and Moze tried to play her.
The bickering continued throughout the movie is hilarious. Another priceless scene was the first night the two spent with each other. He wanted to sleep, so homegirl started smoking a cigarette. He told her to put it out, and she just stared at him. The best scene in the movie is when Addie wants to help some stranded people, and Moze says no. They start arguing, and then it suddenly turns to that they are hungry and where they want to go to eat.
The actual story is one of companionship. Even though Addie and Moze hated each other at the start, they came to care about each other and learned to rely on each other. Moze is a con man and sells those Bibles. Addie is the best right hand as she is very observant. When they go to one person’s home, Addie sees that the woman has a bunch of kids and gives her a Bible for free. At the next stop, Addie sees the jewels and what’s in her house. She quickly doubles the price of the Bible. The two go on adventures as they hit up a fair, steal bootleg liquor, and get a gold-digging woman off their car. Actually, Addie didn’t like her and set her up.
I want to give it up to Tatum O’Neal as Addie Loggins. I was very skeptical of her performance because she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, making her the youngest competitive Academy Award winner (at age 10). Talk about pressure but hey, you have the award many people want. I want to say that Tatum deserved her award because she was sassy, hard, manipulative, jealous and everything a nine-year-old would be.
Madeline Kahn as Trixie Delight was in the movie for a few minutes and made an impact. Honestly, I forgot who she was until I looked closer and remembered she was in Blazing Saddles (another classic film). When she tripped while walking up that little hill, freakin hilarious as she cursed.
Ryan O’Neal as Moses “Moze” Pray was equally entertaining. Starring alongside your young daughter must have been nice. As Moze, O’Neal played him incredibly, as you believed he was a con man. Dude was spitting that car salesman act and taking people’s money left and right.
Paper Moon is a fun, hilarious, and entertaining movie that anyone who watches will have a great time with. The O’Neals are great to watch as their chemistry is high. They have some hilarious moments that will make you laugh. Tatum deserved her Academy Award. Have fun watching two people who couldn’t stand each other being best teammates.
