Tatum O’Neal as Addie Loggins in Paper Moon
Best Supporting Actress at the 46th Annual Oscars (1973)
Notable Quote:
“I want my two-hundred dollars.”
Synopsis:
During the Great Depression, Moze Pray (Ryan O’Neal) is a con artist masquerading as a bible salesman, who gets more than he bargained for when he volunteers to drive a young girl (Tatum O’Neal) to her relatives.
The character:
In the first few minutes of Paper Moon, Addie Loggins is orphaned and taken in by a conman, but she quickly becomes a scam goddess in her own right. She’s very observant, and innately understands how to use that ability: picking up, for instance, on the fact that one of their marks is wealthy, and willing to give more money than they’d initially planned on asking for. She quickly surpasses Moze in his ability to spin a complicated plot. At one point, he gets this awful girlfriend (the appropriately named Trixie Delight), and Addie hatches an absurdly involved plan to get rid of her. I won’t spoil the specifics: just imagine the twins of The Parent Trap driving away the evil stepmother, but with more sex work. When she starts, it seems to be about making money (a big motivator for Addie), but quickly, she seems to just enjoy the scammer life. It’s fun and exciting, and frankly, she doesn’t have to reap any of the consequences if they get caught out because she’s a child.
But Addie’s not a budding sociopath: she has a deep emotional life that the movie conveys through a number of moving small moments. She’s alone in this world, having just lost her mother and never knowing who her father is. Generally, she keeps her grief under wraps, but when she’s alone, it’s clear that she deeply misses her mom. Addie also has a great amount of compassion, which she demonstrates when she keeps Moze from taking advantage of a widowed mom with a ton of kids that she has to take care of. But her greatest strength might be her hope, which manifests itself in a deep trust in FDR’s ability to get the country out of a dire situation. It’s representative of Addie’s ultimate belief that she’ll find a way in her own life, despite the hardships she faces, and it’s a hope that ultimately spreads to the viewer as well.
The performance:
Are child actors underrated? Certainly the Oscars are generally unwilling to consider kids: it’s ridiculous that this was a Supporting Actress performance, given that Tatum O’Neal is offscreen for maybe three minutes of the film, but if you want to win and you’re under twenty, that’s the category you better enter yourself in. Anyway, there are obviously lots of child performances that are overly cutesy or obnoxious, but happily for us, O’Neal is amazing. She’s so likeable, without ever hamming it up.
Let’s run through a quick overview of her qualities. First of all, O’Neal is so funny. Part of her perfect humor is her excellent control of her own facial expressions. Addie is a surly child, so O’Neal scowls and glares, but manages to channel annoyed teenager energy in a hilarious way. There are multiple scenes where she smokes, and each time had me dying, she understands exactly what’s she’s doing. But O’Neal also has the most charming, melt-your-heart smile ever. Her chemistry with her co-actor and actual father is perfect: which might sound easy, given the family connection, but in light of their real-life relationship, is pretty impressive. Getting the correct actress was key to making this movie work, and O’Neal is exactly right in this role.
The movie:
Paper Moon was such an enjoyable watch, absolutely one of my favorites so far! It’s directed by the late Peter Bogdanovich, and is shot in the beautiful style of his The Last Picture Show, but it’s simpler in scope, and much more fun. The dialogue is sharp and interesting, the characters and situations are colorful, and the comedy holds up. But even though it’s a very fun film, it’s not flimsy. I like that it’s set against the backdrop of the tragedy of the Great Depression, a specter that looms over the plot, and I like even more that it has a lot of empathy for almost all of its characters (none for the abusive cops though!). Trixie Delight, for instance, could have been a total baddie, and she is an asshat, but she’s got a lot of depth, as portrayed by Madeline Kahn in an Oscar-nominated turn. If you haven’t this movie before (or recently), watch it!
Was the Oscar deserved?
Yes, she deserved both the Oscar and the youngest winner record.