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Paper Heart
Paper Heart follows Nick and Charlyne on a cross-country journey to document what exactly "love" is. Interviewing ministers, happily married couples, chemists, romance novelists, divorce lawyers, a group of children and more, the determined young girl attempts to find definition and perhaps even experience the mysterious emotion.
Release : | 2009 |
Rating : | 6 |
Studio : | |
Crew : | Director of Photography, Cast Driver, |
Cast : | Charlyne Yi Demetri Martin Jake Johnson Given Sharp Martin Starr |
Genre : | Drama Comedy Romance |
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Reviews
the audience applauded
Good movie but grossly overrated
Fantastic!
The acting in this movie is really good.
Love is end all be all of storytelling. Usually. But when the entire movie is based on love, there's really nowhere you can go with it. Charlyne Yi is a cool girl I take it, but this movie makes her look like a moron. There's nothing wrong with not believing in love or thinking that you be in love, but I don't want to watch as you struggle with figuring out if you want to change your ways or not.I'm making the movie out to be worse than it is. Yi interviews several couples and uses puppets to act out what they say. That part is hilariously good. There are also several cameos which I wasn't expecting but was pleasantly surprised by. The ending was good enough for me to give this movie a five, even though I did have trouble staying focused at times. (PS: Michael Cera is sooooo Michael Cera-y.)
The most disturbing part of this film was that it was hard not to feel that Michael Cera was acting his romantic part in this pseudo- documentary and that Charlyn was truly falling for it. On the surface it appears as though Charlyn wants to make a documentary about how she doesn't believe in love, but sets out on a trek across country trying to find out what it means to other people. All the while, I got the impression that the director had an agenda all his own, desiring to manipulate Charlyn into falling in love during the making of this film, Michael Cera being the catalyst. It is uncomfortable to watch from this perspective. It exploits this homely characters weaknesses. I can see these men conspiring behind this innocent girl's back, proving to the viewer and to herself that she is capable of love, but that nobody had yet given her the time of day, or the opportunity for love. Regardless, Michael Cera's effortless approach serves only to exacerbate this perspective. All this desperate girl really needs is the slightest bit of attention to fall in love. Her stubborn refusal to admit she is in love with Michael as her supposed friend traipses her around Paris for 12 hours in her weakest frame of mind just adds to the humiliation of it all, especially considering the scene where Cera walks her around the grocery store for a half hour trying to decide what to make for her to eat, settling on a frozen cheese pizza. So pathetic, you begin to wonder if she even has a mind or will of her own. Her friend/actor makes vague suggestions to perhaps be more feminine, or bathe, and that perhaps men would be more interested in her. She ends up awkwardly on Michael Cera's porch, like a lost puppy dog trying to find home. She fell in love and got her heart broken before she even knew what hit her. Oh, and the psychic was right.I'd call this a nerdxploitation film.
This movie is entertaining and probably one of the least obnoxious movies I've seen in a long time. The plot centers around innocence and the meaning behind "love", not "Love" -- in other words it was trying to define the term as the movie plays out, instead of assuming what the love interest ("Love") is and allowing the characters to play along. Another thing that made this movie refreshing is that in the beginning the main character was along for the ride as a passenger, and often does some back-seat driving, complaining about the fact that the camera is watching her every move. But as the plot starts to force her to take the wheel, she finds she cannot drive. This is what causes the pinnacle of the movie, when she cannot tell Michael that she loves her, when it is obvious that she does. This discovery of self is what makes the movie interesting -- we discover her as she discovers herself.The writing was fresh, especially since the move took place withing the guise as a documentary. I enjoyed that the director allows us to see behind the movie making facade, and we even see the camera men get in the action occasionally. The interviews with long-time couples kept the fact that this was supposed to be a documentary believable. Also that the actors names were not disguised (although the director was for some reason). Now that I think about it, that makes sense since the move becomes reality only for Charlyne and Michael.Although Charlyne is cute and real, there are some points where I would have liked to see some real acting to keep the documentary aspect a bit more believable. She sometimes has a look on her face of "what am I doing here" and I'm afraid it makes the movie at times lose it's momentum.The vignettes with the paper puppets (or whatever you would call them) are cute and act well to divide the plot up. The last one is perfect for this movie -- Charlyne has gotten herself into a mess she doesn't know how to get out of and must raise herself to a point of toughness where she can even take on the police department. Then in an act of final valor, she pulls Michael along with her for the ride. Charlyne had had moments when she stood up for herself, but the ending summarizes her journey of discovery and validates that she understands that to consummate love sometimes requires a bit of selfishness.I wouldn't underplay Michael's role because he was fantastic in the movie, but this is mostly about Charlyne's journey. Unpredictable most of the time, "quirky" almost to a fault, but with a solid movement towards this climax, this movie is a nice counter play to most of the formula plots in current love story movies.
I didn't know what to expect when I sat down to enjoy this movie, but it sure wouldn't have been what I got. There are 3 actors in this movie, written and made by the three actors, and all the rest are "himself" or "herself", where real couples talk about their own definitions of what love is."Will I ever find love" is the theme, and Charlyne Yi as herself sets out to answer that question. The film is done in "mockumentary" style, and the "chance meeting" of Michael Sera is really part of the script.Michael Cera, actor, is Michael Cera. He begins to take an interest in Charlyne (pronounced Charlene) and as they begin to get more comfortable with each other the camera and director of the "documantary" follow them around.Jake M. Johnson actually plays a role, as Nicholas Jasenovec who in reality is the director of this film.All in all I found it interesting, but in the end an unfulfilling "movie" experience. On DVD.