Synopsis
A bible salesman finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership as a money-making con team in Depression-era Kansas.
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Cast
- Tatum O'NealAddie Loggins
- Ryan O'NealMoses Pray
- Madeline KahnTrixie Delight
- John HillermanDeputy Hardin / Jess Hardin
- Jessie Lee FultonMiss Ollie
- Noble WillinghamMr. Robertson
- Randy QuaidLeroy
- P.J. JohnsonImogene
- James N. HarrellThe Minister
- Burton GilliamFloyd (Desk Clerk)
Recommendations
- 100
Chicago Sun-Times
Tatum O’Neal creates a character out of thin air, makes us watch her every moment and literally makes the movie work. - 91
The A.V. Club
Snappy patter reigns again, but by letting the story develop in open spaces rather than through tight edits, Bogdanovich fosters an atmosphere of freedom and promise. - 88
Chicago Reader
Ryan O'Neal is a con man and Tatum O'Neal is the foundling who may or may not be his daughter. Though their relationship is conventionally drawn, it has a heart that Bogdanovich hasn't been able to recapture. - 80
Time Out
Modern cynicism and efficient acting hold the potential mushiness at bay, and the pair's picaresque odyssey through the Kansas dustbowl, during which they vie for control over their increasingly bizarre partnership, is admirably served by Laszlo Kovacs' marvellous monochrome camerawork. - 75
TV Guide Magazine
Bogdanovich's warmest film, featuring charming performances from real-life father and daughter Ryan and Tatum O'Neal. - 70
Variety
Ryan O'Neal stars as a likeable con artist in the Depression midwest, and his real-life daughter, Tatum O'Neal, is outstanding as his nine-year-old partner in flim-flam. - 50
Time
It is very fussy about period detail, and goes to some length to evoke the dim days of Depression America, while just about everything else is left to slide. - 50
The New York Times
Peter Bogdanovich and his screenwriter, Alvin Sargent, who adapted Joe David Brown's novel, have set out to make a bittersweet comedy that is both in the style of thirties movies and about the thirties. They evoke the time (1936) and the place (rural Kansas and Missouri) so convincingly that their rather sweet formula story seems completely inadequate, even fraudulent.
