Paper Moon (1973)

Release date: 1973-05-09
Country: USA
Language: English
Director: Peter Bogdanovich
Production Co: The Directors Company, Saticoy Productions, Paramount Pictures
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Rating: 8.1/10
Length: 1h 42min

Storyline

Set in the midwest of the depression-era, Paper Moon follows Moses Pray and Addie Loggins - one a con artist, the other, the young girl who's the daughter of a woman who's just passed away. The pair meet when 'Mose' stops by the sparsely-attended funeral in Kansas of a woman he once knew (we never see her). In attendance, is the woman's young daughter, Addie, whom Moses agrees to transport to St Joseph, Mo -- for money, of course. Mose - an inveterate hustler, has been working ostensibly as a representative of the Kansas Bible Company - who picks his marks from the obits, and tries to sell - at exorbitant prices - the decedents' spouse the custom bible they'd previously ordered. Wise beyond her years, Addie picks up on Moses' grift, and very quickly, she and Mose become a team. Traveling from town to town, making money in every dishonest way imaginable, and looking for the ultimate score. The colorful characters they meet along the way make the film all the more interesting. One in ...

Plot Keywords

great depression, father daughter relationship, whiskey, bible, con artist, orphan, affection, wrestling, stolen money, maid, con game, precocious child, nostalgia, anti hero, antihero, character repeating someone else's dialogue, heist gone wrong, long take, period piece, moonshine

Short Review

Shot in black and white by the versatile cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs, this has a mix of folksiness and precise craft that anticipates the Coen brothers, aiming to charm and succeeding.