Paper Heart

"Paper Heart" falls in line with the "Bruno/Borat" style of film-making, where viewers will probably be asking themselves, "How much of this is real and how much is staged?" Maybe in this case it isn't staged at all. I personally don't know, but I have to say "Paper Heart" feels very real, which is an obvious difference to those two Sacha Baron Cohen movies.

The plot has a documentary crew following around Charlyne Yi who's looking to understand the concept of love, by traveling around America and interviewing people. Charlyne is an offbeat young woman who doesn't believe in true love, herself. She could easily be a geeky friend of Summer from "(500) Days of Summer", another recent Sundance romcom. Charlyne meets Michael Cera at a house party, who acts just like the characters he played in "Juno" and "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist". Charlyne and Michael soon become a couple, although Charlyne not surprisingly retains her status of true love.

While on the road, she meets couples who share their feelings of love and give stories on how they met. Some of these stories are re-enacted in a very whimsical fashion, by using cardboard, cotton, marker, etc. If you saw "The Science of Sleep", they're similar to those fantasy scenes, except those probably were more time consuming to make compared to "Paper Heart". While these scenes are still cute and funny, they are a bit predictable and, yes, pretentious. But hey, I can give credit to the filmmakers for trying to be creative. In fact, the final scene in the movie is the best, because it parodies those scenes in an awesomely over-the-top fashion.

The movie itself is charming and often funny, but it does wear out its welcome after awhile. I felt like there were scenes that could be cut shorter or didn't really have to be included, like the interview with kids at a playground about love. It seems like it was done just for fun or for timing. It does have one good line where a girl says she's in love with Chris Brown (or someone named Brown) and says to Charlyne, "At least I admit it."

"Paper Heart" doesn't have any real direction, but neither does life. Are Charlyne and Michael made for each other? What if their relationship doesn't last? It's something the filmmakers just have to work with. From what I got, there's no defining message about what love is, other than it's to each his own.

So this movie was a bit different. It's filmed like a documentary, and you might actually think it's real if you didn't know better. In fact, I question if some sequences are the performers telling how they really feel. It's about a girl who doesn't believe in love who kind of dates Michael Cera. She is very suspicious of anyone who shows her interest, and puts up a lot of defenses. Do they end up together? I won't tell, but I will say the ending is kind of crazy. I enjoyed it well enough for a single watch. I don't expect to sit through it again, though. Something about Charlyne's attitude is kind of off-putting to me.

Charlyne Yi claims she doesn't believe in love (although she seems to want to believe in it). She and her friend,director Nicholas Jasenovec (on camera played by actor,Jake M.Johnson,so that the real Nicholas Jasenovec can spend time behind the camera) hit the road to try and (somehow)answer her questions by interviewing anybody who is willing to talk on camera. In the middle of all this,actor Michael Cera (Nick & Nora's Infinite Playlist,Juno,Superbad)somehow strikes up a friendship with Yi,which somehow manages to turn into a relationship (of sorts). Of course,turns out to shift the focus in the film a bit. Other talking heads figure in this pseudo documentary cum mockumentary (actor/writer/director, Seth Rogan,who is a friend of Yi's,briefly turns up to put in his two cents worth). Along the way,we find out a little more about Charlyne Yi (besides being an actress,she's also a part time musician who actually writes & performs some of the songs in this film). Further down the road (ouch!---bad pun---my bad!), Charlyne & Michael start to get a bit tired of being in the camera lens when they just want a little down time to be alone together. Charlyne Yi seems a bit too tentative in her portrayal of herself at times. Worth taking a look at if you enjoy quirky,youth oriented film fare such as the above mentioned. Rated PG-13 by the MPAA for a bit of rude language & some mature content.

This was a very clever film and it was funny, entertaining and a little sad all in one. There are a lot of cameos of people just playing themselves. I think just the guy filming it was not playing himself. It was filmed in a documentary style and for awhile you think it is all real. Charlyne Yi is the star that thinks she will never fall in love or even feel it. There are parts when you can really see how she is feeling and she is a joy to watch. Michael Cera plays the guy she starts to like. He uses the same type of comedy you usually see him use in other movies he is in. The director is played by Jake Johnson; the only guy not playing himself. He was an interesting character to add. He shows he felt for the main character, being her friend. But he really wanted to end the movie. We have all felt like Charlyne sometimes. I know I have. That is why I had a connection to this film. So I think this film can only connect to certain audiences. There were some very interesting hand made scenes in the film with paper and other things. That was a nice little art style to add. I was enjoying this film all the way until the end. I will not ruin it, but I will say it was not what I wanted and I think it was a really bad move on their part to end it that way. But overall, a charming movie with a great cast of actors just playing themselves.

I give the creators props, it's creative and this is a kinda movie that hasn't been done before (to my knowledge) it could pass as a very real documentary. But it's not. And I find myself wondering why this was made. I think it works, it's rather entertaining and has some funny interviews from folks (not sure if they're real or not but I'm assuming most of them are). But what's all it for? I dunno maybe I'm missing the point. If it wasn't for Michael Cera this movie would be a 3 or 4. Instead its a 5.5