Review of Paper Moon

I can't recall ever seeing this film come up in any critics top 50, but it would certainly be in my list. From one of the very first shots that hangs on Tatum O'Neal's face perfectly framed in close up to the performance from each of the major characters. The camera work by the great Laszlo Kovacs is impeccable. You could frame stills of this film on gallery walls. It's hard to imagine the charm and charisma that emanates from the nine year-old precocity Tatum O'Neal will ever be matched by a young actor again. The period soundtrack selections wrap the movie's scenes in a dust bowl blanket, the starkness of the scenery becoming a character unto themselves. A truly unique masterwork that, even with the credit it gets, is still somehow strangely under-appreciated and will most likely be forgotten or overlooked by younger film enthusiasts. If you love cinema, and not pretentious, overrated cinema but a film that delivers both high artistic as well as entertainment quality, you must see this.