The tender beauty of Peter Bogdanovich’s ‘Paper Moon’
On December 8th, 2023, Ryan O’Neal passed away after battling cancer for many years. The actor rose to prominence in the New Holywood era, landing early roles in movies like Love Story and What’s Up Doc? The latter was O’Neal’s first of several collaborations with Peter Bogdanovich, who cast the actor in Paper Moon the following year.
Opposite O’Neal was his real-life daughter, Tatum O’Neal, who bagged a ‘Best Supporting Actor’ Oscar for her performance as Addie Loggins. The elder O’Neal stars as a crook named Moses, who is instructed to take Addie to her aunt’s house following her mother’s funeral. Moses, an old flame of Addie’s mother, may or may not be her father – “You my pa?” Addie asks, to which Moses replies, “Course I ain’t your pa”.
Yet, their similar mannerisms and undeniable chemistry – aided by their real-life father-daughter relationship – suggest otherwise. The characters embark on a road trip through Great Depression-era America, scamming widows with ‘personalised’ bibles. It doesn’t take Addie long to demonstrate a natural propensity for scamming, just like her father, and she soon carries out her own tricks, purposefully using her cuteness to her advantage.
The pair are delightful to watch, with Tatum’s feisty character stealing the show. “I want my $200!” she demands from Moses, who she takes to calling Moze, staring at him intently before raising her voice to repeat herself. Behind her hardy exterior and steely gaze, Addie is just a young child, recently orphaned, who needs to be looked after. The younger O’Neal executes this juxtaposition perfectly, mastering both the vulnerability and childishness inherent in her character with a sense of independence and even world-weariness despite being just nine years old.
Although she is considerably younger than Moses, she holds her own against him with ease – a testament to each of the actors’ stellar performances. The senior O’Neal wields his good looks conveniently, imbuing his performance with a slight weakness that allows the precocious young Addie to overpower him. Still, he’s not exactly stupid – he has been successful thus far in executing his tricks – but he possesses a level of slackness and naivety that comes with possessing naturally boyish looks. Moses’ routine is disrupted by Addie, who won’t let him get away with his usual scheming.
The dinner scene is a great example of this, where the pair argue over Addie’s $200. Whenever the camera is on Moses, he looks twitchy and out of his depth, clearly unsure of how to treat such a defiant child. When he is not scoffing his ice cream, he is delivering his lines by adding extra emphasis to the movement of his mouth, as though he is biting every word as they fly out, desperate to dispel any notion that he could be Addie’s father. “Maybe we got the same jaw, but the same jaw don’t mean same blood. That woman looks like a bullfrog but that don’t mean she’s the damn thing’s mother,” he asserts, the humour of his statement coming off as entirely sincere.
The two O’Neals bounce off each other effortlessly, which is demonstrated perfectly in the car scene, where the scamming duo realise they have run out of bibles. Their bickering plays out seamlessly, mainly due to Addie’s ability to verbally hit back at the man who is most likely her father with just as much strength as he. “You got an excuse for everything!” Moses declares before Addie strikes back without stammering for breath, “Cause you blame me for everything!” Within a matter of moments, they’re back to normal, and we are given a glimpse of a relationship that would clearly benefit both parties.
Paper Moon has the potential to become sickly and overly sentimental, but Bogdanovich never crosses that line. Instead, the movie’s most emotionally tender scenes are balanced by the humorous wit and vivacity of both characters. The film ends with Moses dropping Addie at her aunt’s, portraying himself as unbothered and ready to let her go, but it is clear that neither of the characters wants their adventures to end. As their dodgy vehicle takes off with a mind of its own, they chase after it together towards a long open road, suggesting that it might not be the end for the pair after all.
