Today’s quick review: Paper Heart. Charlyne Yi (Charlyne Yi), a comedian who has never been in love, sets out to figure out what love is by making a documentary with her friend Nick Jasenovec (Jake Johnson) as the director. Their project takes an unexpected turn when Charlyne meets and starts going out with Michael Cera (Michael Cera). But the pressure of having to live out their relationship on camera keeps them from finding the happiness they seek.
Paper Heart is a romantic comedy and pseudo-documentary about love in its many forms. Charlyne Yi travels across the United States interviewing couples, experts, and even children about their experiences with love. Paper Heart is one part documentary and one part fiction, with Charlyne’s interviews interspersed with her budding, fictional relationship with Michael Cera. The movie is charming but lacks the emotional satisfaction of other love stories.
Paper Heart has a light tone that reflects the personality of Charlyne Yi. Yi specializes in a shy, cheerful style of comedy. Her interviews include lots of short, off-the-cuff interactions with her subjects, as well as longer stories told in their own words. The material never gets too serious, even when it touches on divorce or Charlyne’s own ambivalence about love. The atmosphere is set by a soundtrack of gentle acoustic songs by Cera and Yi.
However, Paper Heart’s story is a little too natural for its own good. Charlyne’s relationship with Michael consists of a series of ordinary dates, no more or less. Their story arc is simply two people getting closer to one as they spend more time together. There’s no more tension or emotional payoff than any other real-world relationship, and the limits of the documentary format keep the movie from diving deeply into either one’s thoughts.
The documentary side of the movie suffers from a similar problem. Charlyne’s interview style is light and personable, but there isn’t that much point to the interviews themselves. Paper Heart records the opinions of a variety of people on the topic of love, but it never puts them together or draws any substantive conclusions from them. That gives the movie a flat feel to it: one interview is as good as the next, with no real sense of progression.
As such, Paper Heart makes for a pleasant watch but doesn’t have much substance behind it. Its love story lacks the impact of movies that let their characters run free, while its documentary side, though charming in its own way, doesn’t shed much light on the topic it’s supposed to be about. Those who enjoy Charlyne Yi’s and Michael Cera’s signature styles of humor will get some mileage out of the film. Anyone else will be unsatisfied.
For a romantic comedy with Michael Cera done in a similar style, try Juno. For another offbeat comedy about two people getting caught up in their own documentary, try Where’s Marlowe?.
6.0 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.0 to 6.5 for modest charm without the story to back it up.