Now, most of you (yea, you 3 people reading my blog), will be like "ohhhhh I LOVE Paper Moon, why did it take so long for you to discover it?" Well, see, I have a slight problem. I grew up in a household where 1920-1950 was the ruling media age. No Simpsons, no Rugrats, no to a lot of things. Never watched Star Wars or The Breakfast Club. I know, I KNOW. What a sin against humanity! Well I have seen The Thin Man, Casablanca, And Then There Were None, Arsenic and Old Lace, My Man Godfrey, The Maltese Falcon, The General, and every other influential movie up to 1960. So chill. I have the same amount of knowledge, just in a different era.
Now in case you haven't seen it, Paper Moon came out in the 1970s, hence why I haven't seen it. It's a great take on the Depression era and strays away from the traditional "everyone was nice, Mama was great, Paw was an upstanding gentleman, and there was no such thing as whores or bootleggers." There's this con-man, Moses (Ryan O'Neal) and a little girl/boy Addy (Tatum O'Neal). Her mom dies and he gets stuck traveling with her cross-states to take her to her only kin. Because its the Great Depression and he has a car. And ain't no one else payin' to send some whores kid away.
The thing is, he owes her $200. And until he gets it back, he's stuck with her. The black-and-white film and filming techniques do a great job convincing you the characters' are really stuck in that era. The depiction of the Great Depression's poverty is so raw and real it is almost unsettling, but the plot is sweet. It is a weird mix that I really appreciated and thought worked well.
And the ending. Well let's just say it is perfect. Not overally sad, not overally happy, it just is what it is. So refreshing.
4.8 out of 5 stars. Watch it!
I've never heard of this! MUST WATCH! I love instant watch recommendations.
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