Customer Reviews

Paper Heart

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(23)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

Charlyne Yi is a gal with a problem. She's not sure about love and whether it exists for her or if it ever will. So she sets about on a documentary quest to find out what other people think love is and just what exactly they think about it.

It's a romantic comedy that's a fake documentary that turns out to be party a true documentary. Trust me, you'll have to watch it to know what I just said.

Charlyne meets Michael Cera at a house party and a friendship begins to bud. After a short time, Mr. Cera would like it to develop into a romance because he falls in love with Charlyne.

As Shakespeare once wrote, therein lies the rub.

I guess love is something different for every individual and we need to discover what it is for ourselves. People can help us but the conclusions we draw are our own based upon our individual life experiences. And so it is for Ms. Yi.

I had to watch this one twice before writing my review. After that first time, I wasn't quite sure what it was that I'd just seen. It just seemed like I probably missed a lot seeing it only once... and I was right.

This is a movie that is based on a solid comedic premise... and then, in the middle, it changes into a different and maybe more solid, clever comedic construct. AND it makes you think.

Watching Charlyne Yi delve into this subject can be frustrating for you. I certainly was frustrated - twice. It was as if I wanted to help her... but I couldn't. Along the way, I came to appreciate a little more every woman I ever loved... even a little bit - and how much it meant when she loved me back.

As a man of 57 years of age, I probably had no business liking this little film so much, but I did.

I hope you do, too.

I delayed watching this film because I made the mistake of reading too many negative reviews. It seemed like it was just going to be too "out there." The front artwork showing Yi and Cera running away from a film crew didn't help much. I was expecting a melodramatic mockumentary which didn't interest me at all. As others have pointed out, this is a hybrid documentary with elements of both a traditional documentary and fictional storytelling.

Yes, both Yi and Cera are awkward. I don't know about Yi so much, but that's Cera's M.O. so I'm surprised by other viewers surprise regarding the awkwardness in this film. That's part of the story and its charm.

There are basically three parts to "Paper Heart." The story between Yi and Cera, the interviews with everyday people and their experiences with love, and Yi's simplistic yet charming artistic interpretation (sort of a variation of stop-action, but different). All three parts are good. However, I do have to agree with others that the least interesting is probably the "relationship" between Yi and Cera. But that's okay, it's still a good film.

Watch "Paper Heart" when you're in the mood for something light, quirky and a little thought provoking. Ignore the critics and their excessive demands that this be something that it was never intended to be.

This faux documentary was nice a story to watch, but didn't leave a lasting impression. While I enjoyed it, there aren't many people I know I could recommend it to because it doesn't cater to a very wide crowd.

Which is weird because the topic is LOVE, but the presentation is too art-house for about 95% of the people I know.

That said it had its charms with comically and painfully awkward lead Charlyne Yi, and ever-droll Michael Cera.

The highlight of the entire movie was the funny little paper side tales presented. I supposed these help inform the title.

Overall, if you're into quirky, art-house, faux documentary films about love (ie your a college freshman majoring in liberal arts) you'll probably enjoy this flick

Oh man, I don't want to bash this movie, but it's getting on my nerves thinking about it.

Charlene Yi, who co-wrote the screenplay, plays a young woman who absolutely doesn't believe in love; therefore, she travels the country interviewing, for a 'documentary', people about love. Will she find love amidst all the somewhat funny at times, annoying at others, mostly boring quirkiness of a flick?

Michael Cera, who recently broke up with Yi after 3 years, performs his usual nice guy, passive shtick, think 'Juno' or 'Year One'- actually, he can work pretty good off a Jack Black type hyper-personality. In this movie, Yi ain't it. She observes life and makes comments in almost a bland, nihilist fashion. I can't figure if the actors are trying to portray depressed, dorky nerds, or they're just slow and dopey.

Maybe it's just me. It's promoted as an art house type movie not a mainstreamer, Hollywood block buster. And some of the interviews of people's relationships were interesting, but a lot seemed forced, dull or contrived. I just didn't care about the characters; their cutesy interactions weren't, in general, amusing, and if I had to spend time with them or similar in real life, I'd be jumping off something.

My overall opinion: a weak, romantic comedy that wants to be unusally funny and creative, but isn't. Sorry for the bashing.

Charlyne Yi, a musician and comedian, plays a fictionalized version of herself. In the documentary, she states that she has never been in loe, and that she doesn't quite believe in love either. She sets out to interview people (scientists, couples, etc.) trying to learn more about love. Along the way, she meets Michael Cera, who is also playing a fictionalized version of himself. They start a relationship and have the deal with it being part of the documentary.

This hybrid documentary (hard to tell what has been fictionalized) explores interesting topics about love and relationships. I found it interestig, albeit a bit slow. Fans of Yi's type of performance may enjoy this a bit more. In the end, you kinda want to wack her in the head and yell, looks what's in front of you. Seems to work! I also loved the puppet stories!

"Paper Heart" is two movies. One is an interesting documentary about love, complete with some rather sweet interviews and discussions on what love actually is. The other movie is a rather dull, paint-by-numbers romantic comedy that doesn't work nearly as well.

Charlyne Yi is the interviewer in the documentary. She travels around the country and speaks with individuals, couples and a group of schoolchildren, talking to them about love. She talks with a gay couple who've been together ten years, a straight couple who has been together for seventy and a divorce court judge who is married to a divorce lawyer. I bet their pillow talk is interesting!

As she travels around she talks about how she's never been in love, she don't know what it is, and doesn't expect that she'll ever fall in love. Then at a party she meets Michael Cera (playing, as he does in every movie, himself), and the two begin a relationship. This is the fictional part of the movie and it's much less interesting.

The documentary is pretty fun. Yi has a good personality, and she does a good job of talking with people and getting them to talk about their lives and their loves. Some of these stories even get set to marionettes, and that's quite adorable and entertaining.

But the story part of the movie, with her relationship to Cera, is just not that good. These are two very passive people and while there is chemistry between them, it's not enough to hold the movie together, and serves as a distraction to the actual documentary part of the film.

It's a pity. Had this been a straight documentary it would've been much better. As it is, three stars; two for the story, four for the doc.

Paper Heart is a pseudo-documentary that follows Charlyne Yi, as she struggles to understand what love means. The film begins with several instances of Charlyne interviewing people or talking to passerbys on the street about the meaning of love. However, as the film unfolds, the focus gradually shifts from interviews to the developing romance between Charlyne and Michael Cera, whom she meets at a party at the beginning of the film.

Paper Heart blurs the line between fiction and documentary to the point that it's difficult to tell for sure how much of the story was scripted. (However, I tend to think that most, if not all, of the story was scripted. For example, the 'cameraman' is played by an actor with the same name of the actual cameraman.) This film is somewhat interesting and has some moments that are funny in a quirky sort of way, but ultimately the movie left me feeling frustrated. Without giving away the ending, I'll just say that the movie ends without much of a satisfying conclusion.

This film is worth a watch for any big Michael Cera or Charlyne Yi fans, but will likely be a disappointment for general audiences.

I suspect that "Paper Heart" may not be for everyone, but with much sincerity--I found this delightful faux documentary to be utterly beguiling. Truly. Funny and charming, the film's success lies squarely on the shoulders of its star (and co-creator) Charlyne Yi. Having only a passing awareness of her, I am not particularly knowledgeable about her comedic stylings--but I can only assume that the Yi we see in "Paper Heart" rings pretty close to the Yi you might see in a club. And let me tell you, I'd hang with her. Goofy and observant, Yi's humor and personality really struck a chord with me. And as I liked her so much, I was hooked into "Paper Heart" completely!

Shot as a documentary, but utterly scripted, aside from "man in the street" type interviews--"Paper Heart" ingeniously brings an unabashed romance to the film festival crowd. Yi proclaims that she does not believe in love. She then travels the country to collect other random thoughts about the concept. As those she films tell stories of the heart, Yi remains a skeptic--convinced that love just isn't something that's tangible (or, at least, something that's not going to happen to her). In Hollywood, she meets actor Michael Cera (star "Arrested Development" and "Juno") and the two start to spend time together. As their relationship starts to develop (always on camera for the documentary), it may already be doomed by Yi's skepticism and the film's intrusion into any private moment.

Cera and Yi have a natural, relaxed chemistry--if no great passion. Their interchanges are whip smart and believably awkward. I was rooting for them and laughing with them the entire way. Again, I don't think this film is for everyone. It has a hyper-awareness, an insider quality that some may find too precious. But the film's eccentricities really worked for me and, oddly enough, I ended up feeling like I was watching something truly original. And that's not something I can say very often! KGHarris, 1/10.

Charlene Yi is the lead in this mockumentary about love. I found it charming when they showed everyday people talking about love and relationships. As this film about making a film unfolds, Yi develops a relationship with Michael Cera.
Since both actors play themselves, it became sort of confusing. Was this a real relationship? Or was it a gentler attempt at Andy Kaufmanesque/Borat type "reality humor", i.e. "I'm serious, but I'm funny. Just kidding! No, I'm really serious...or am I?" By the end of the movie, I was questioning whether the heartfelt interviews with everyday people were real or scripted. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it enough to give it 3 stars.

I'm a fan of Michael Cera's, and would like to see more of Charlene Yi's work. Seth Rogen has one or two very brief scenes.

I can recommend this movie as a rental, but I'm not sure it stands up to repeated viewings.

"Paper Heart" was a film I'd heard some buzz on, coming out of Sundance. It's supposed to be a documentary of sorts (I guess? After watching a bit of it, I came to the realization that it's a `scripted and staged documentary', which is really not a documentary), but in the end, I felt like I'd been subjected to 90 minutes of watching a casual acquaintance's boring senior student movie project. The premise is that Charlyne Yi, an actress/musician who you might remember as being a stoner chick in "Knocked Up", says she doesn't believe in love/is cynical about whether true love exists, and sets out to find out if she's wrong, by interviewing various people around the country. Included in her interviews are scientists, long-time married couples, a divorce judge, Oklahoma bikers, Las Vegas wedding chapel proprietors, and the like. The interviews with regular people are reminiscent of the interludes in "When Harry Met Sally", and maybe if the filmmakers had focused on this angle, this film would've worked a bit better. But instead, we get `lucky' enough to have the film crew document the `relationship' between Yi and Michael Cera (who is well-known as the star of "Juno" and "Superbad", and was on "Arrested Development", among his credits). What an amazing feat that there seems to be a three-camera shoot on their dates (I know I usually go for excellent coverage on my dates - I mean, even if this was a documentary, I think everything's a bit TOO well-blocked and lit, plus b-roll footage? please....). The use of crude puppets/cutout paper figures to illustrate the interviewee's stories is so amateurish, it nearly sinks the film on its own (and that's saying a lot, considering that the entire film looks like they spent maybe $10k on it). Yi is really not very funny as a comedian nor is she particularly good at interviewing (and I'm not even going to comment on her singing), and Cera seems to be exactly in real life as pretty much every role he plays, which is a road that's pretty well explored by this point. The scenes where they interact (and it's interacting, not romance - these two seem to have NO chemistry hence I was not surprised when I heard they broke up in real life) are so awkward and filled with romantic nothing-talk, that I felt icky just watching it (and i was alone in my own living room) - I was waiting for them to call each other "Shmoopie" and get it over with. I could go on and on, but you get the point. If you want an entertaining romantic movie, pick just about any other movie - the sticker on the front of the DVD slipcase has a rave from Ben Lyons, which should've been a total red flag to watch something else - my bad. This just might be the worst film i've seen all year.