Paper Moon -- DVD Paramount Home Video 2003     Reviewed by Tony Buchsbaum	I can't remember the first time I saw Paper Moon, but I do know that I've always loved it. What I do remember is that I saw it after The Bad News Bears, which also starred -- and caused my boyhood crush on -- Tatum O'Neal. I wanted to see Paper Moon because it was earlier work, and because I liked the idea that she and her father Ryan had worked in the same film. The other thing that interested me about Paper Moon was that its director, Peter Bogdanovich, had made one of my favorite films, What's Up, Doc? starring Barbra Streisand and Ryan O'Neal. It's interesting now, then, that both Paper Moon and What's Up, Doc? have now appeared on DVD at the same time, coincidentally, the former as part of a collection of several Bogdanovich movies, the latter as part of a collection of several Streisand movies. Paper Moon is about a man named Moses Pray and his young daughter Addie, who con people out of their few dollars during Depression-era Kansas. The stark, unforgiving nature of the times is mirrored by the stark, unforgiving nature of the black-and-white film Bogdanovich and cinematographer Laszlo Kovacs used. Vistas are both graceful and flat; faces somehow are both shallow and deep. But the film stock isn't the only thing that's black-and-white. So is the story, a crackling comedy about right and wrong. Moses drives along the region's dusty roads looking for his next grift while posing as a Bible salesman. His daughter Addie tags along, providing a deadpan foil for Mose's desperate, sorry life. The banter is priceless, and it's made all the more interesting by the fact that the actors are father-daughter, as well. What's terrific about the energy they bring to their parts is that throughout the film they switch off: one moment Moses is funny and Addie is straight, the next it's the reverse. Alvin Sargent's brilliant script allows them to reveal each another simply by letting them talk. One of the film's shiniest pennies is Madeline Kahn. Whereas in What's Up, Doc? -- her debut film -- in which she was a clean-cut, floral-print wearing, flip-haired fiancée named Eunice Burns ("Eunice?" Stresiand says. "There's a person named Eunice?"), here Kahn plays Trixie Delight, a perfectly-named woman on the lookout for a man who'll take care of her the way she wants to be taken care of. Sure, she'll travel with Mose and Addie, but that's a con, too; she'll keep her eyes and legs equally wide open as she casts about for a better deal. When Addie grows jealous and formulates a plan to get rid of Kahn's character quick, using Trixie's own wiles to get the better of her, Moses sees he's had enough. He pawns Addie off on relatives, but he soon realizes he can't live without her. He sees -- as we have from the start -- that she brings not only a fresh dimension to his cons, but a deeper dimension to his life. Paper Moon has always been a simple story, but it's so well-told, so layered, that it seems more complex than it is. This comes from the commitment of everyone involved, as well as by the natural chemistry of Ryan and Tatum O'Neal. Though no one was sure the casting would work, the director claims he knew it would as soon as he met the girl at her father's house; Tatum was as feisty and worldly-wise as Addie needed to be. Hollywood agreed and awarded Tatum the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress; she was only nine years old, and she's still the youngest winner. (Madeline Kahn was nominated for her work, as well.) Peter Bogdanovich brilliantly captures Depression-era Kansas. His then-wife Polly Platt's sets are perfect down to the smallest detail. The desolate streets. The dust. The worn shoes. The early automobiles. The streetlamps. The detail shines even brighter against the stark cinematography of Laszlo Kovacs, who brings an amazing sense of light to the film. Though artful, it almost seems, at times, as if they just turned on the camera and filmed reality. And the director's choice of forgoing a score in favor of period songs does a great deal to place the story in its time. Though the film is based on a novel called Addie Pray, by Joe David Brown, it was one of Bogdanovich's song choices that ultimately gave the film its name. In terms of this DVD presentation, there's a fascinating audio commentary by Bogdanovich that covers virtually every aspect of the film-making experience. To augment this, there's also an extensive making-of documentary, broken into three segments: "The Next Picture Show" (a reference to the director's previous film, "The Last Picture Show"), "Asking for the Moon," and "Getting the Moon." If you've never seen Paper Moon, add it to your list. It doesn't make many (if any) best-of lists, but it's a unique movie made in a unique time in Hollywood, when character and vision were more important than stars and effects. If this film has any resonance at all in terms of movies made today, it's the fact that it was made very much like an independent film would be now: Paramount provided the money, but Peter Bogdanovich went out and did the film the way he wanted to. This was how directors worked then; they made their own films their own way. Their independence wasn't from the system, but from interference that young directors like Bogdanovich knew would compromise their vision. | November 2003   Tony Buchsbaum is the author of Total Eclipse. At night he works on another novel and a screenplay. Days, he writes advertising copy in Lawrenceville, NJ, where he lives with his wife and sons.	Peter Bogdanovich brilliantly captures Depression-era Kansas. His then-wife Polly Platt's sets are perfect down to the smallest detail. The desolate streets. The dust. The worn shoes. The early automobiles. The streetlamps.