Saw Paper Moon, an adorable film made in the 70s, set in the 40s, about a con-man and his child side-kick grifting their way across prohibition-era America. The film is as charming as it sounds. The developing and deepening relationship between conman and girl follows the expected arc from grumpy placation and glaring silences to the girl participating in the grifts and saving his hide more than once. The film is not terribly surprising, however the point is not to surprise you but to melt your heart and in this it succeeded for me anyway.
The little girl won an oscar for her performance and it's easy to see why. Normally child actors are basically wooden mannequins. They don't know how people behave yet so you can see them mechanically perform the actions that some assistant director screamed at them. Say line, laught, frown, smile. This girl's role calls for a lot of sulking which is easy to do (you just stare and frown) but you can see her struggling to fit into traditional female roles and her performance in general is just head and shoulders above other child actors'. Allegedly, this was accomplished by hundreds of takes and editing, which must have been miserable all around.
The film reminded me of Leon The Professional, although far less edgy, and of The Sting, but with less plot-twists and more heart-warming. It's definitely entertaining however and deserves a look.
