Review of Paper Moon (1973) by Ken S — 31 Dec 2015

Paper Moon is excellent at capturing the feel of an old classic film that takes place during the Great Depression. I love the choice to film in black-and-white because it just seems right for the style of movie.

The marvelous thing they did in this movie was using an actual father-daughter pair, because you could feel the connection between the characters even when the events or dialogue in the film seemed to be driving them apart.

I loved the 2 main characters so much, and it was nice how they were slowly growing closer and becoming more defined characters as the movie went on. It's kind of amazing how charming they can make a pair of crooks, yet you find yourself completely rooting for them to be successful.

I think my only stumbling block in the movie was the entire sequence with Madeline Kahn. She is a simply amazing actress, so connecting her with any complaint feels foolish, but I just didn't like the way her presence broke up the flow of the film.

It was as if there was this consistent journey I was taken on, and suddenly it took a detour into an extended sub-plot which didn't do enough to keep the main story going. If it were shortened or perhaps rewritten a little I think it might have worked, but as it stood, it was the one time when I started to lose interest.

However, despite this slow section in the middle, I was completely in love with Paper Moon and I think it is a movie that most people would enjoy.