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| DIRECTED BY |
| Peter Bogdanovich
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| STARRING |
| Ryan O'Neal |
| Madeline Kahn |
| Tatum O'Neal |
| John Hillerman |
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With a subtle directorial hand, Peter Bogdanovich just let his thespians do their jobs here, and thus they carried the whole film into the amazingly charming entertainment that it is today. Are there any deep, philosophical messages to analyze here? Perhaps not, but it�s certainly touching and the final scenes will have many viewers holding back tears because of the fact that ten-year-old Tatum O�Neal has successfully and seemingly effortlessly endeared herself to them. The pairing of Moses and Addie truly do make for one of cinema's most memorable love-hate relationships, and by the finale it's terrible for anyone to have to watch it come to an end. And could the Academy have been anymore flat-out right here by awarding Tatum O'Neal Best Supporting Actress? It�s obviously one of the most audacious wins in the history of the Awards, and a deserved one at that.
Bogdanovich didn�t mind simply placing his camera in one set location and just leaving it there because he had the fullest confidence that his cast would make the film compelling, but some stylization is evident here nonetheless. It�s interesting to watch shots that withdraw from the action completely, framing its characters from a vast distance. And it truly seems as if this movie couldn�t have been filmed in anything other than the stark black-and-white, which is iridescently brought to life anyway thanks to each and every performance.
Some aspects of the story do border on ridiculousness, of course � are we to believe that Moses and Addie simply had great luck in finding these amazingly gullible people? But it doesn�t really matter in the long run anyway, because �Paper Moon� will really make you smile.
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