Paper Heart has true charm until you find out it's all an act.
Paper Heart
starring Charlyne Yi, Michael Cera, Jake M. Johnson, Demetri Martin, Seth Rogen
directed by Nicholas Jasenovec
This is one of those films that you wonder just where the idea for it came from and who believed enough in it to actually produce it. Now, I don’t mean to start down on the movie, but the premise here is rather thin; we have Charlyne Yi, a semi-well known actress/comedian/musician. You’d know her from her small role in 40 Year Old Virgin. Charlyne seemingly doesn’t believe love exists, and when her director friend Nick (played by Johnson) finds out, he wants to do a documentary about it. So Charlyne is followed across the U.S. by a camera crew while she asks random people what they think love is and whether or not it exists. Like I said, thin.
She interviews a wide variety of people; divorcees, people in 50 year plus marriages, biker gang members, school yard children, a federal divorce court judge, a psychic, and several others. Each has a rather heart warming story to tell, and these are perhaps the most touching parts of the film. Little bits of various ways people believe in true love. Eventually, Charlyne meets Michael, the star of movies such as Year One and Superbad. Michael Cera likes her right off the bat and wants to take her out. Charlyne is resistant, but she eventually goes. They start hanging out a lot as the movie rolls on, and something special starts to develop. Only, Charlyne is reluctant to call it love. The plot thickens from there on out. I left not really knowing whether or not the events on the screen were true, and if they had been, I might have a slightly higher opinion of the film. However, all the interaction between Charlyne, Michael, and ‘Nick’ (again, played by Johnson) is fake. And that steals some of the soul of the story.
Perhaps the best part of the film is Charlyne’s talent with paper dolls. As the couples tell their stories along the way, Charlyne has taken the time to make sets and dolls out of paper and act out the scenes with wire and string. Its highly crude and unfinished work, but they carry a certain charm, and they effectively help to narrate the individual stories. The movie as a whole comes off cutesy because of these, however, and I’m not entirely sure if that is what the production was going for or not. In fact, I’m not really sure they knew exactly what they wanted out of the project. In my mind, it’s as if a few buddies were sitting around and decided to make a movie on the spur of the moment about a very few true facts between friends. But, of course, they had to add in some good parts here and there and develop some sort of half ass narrative to make it work. And all that craziness almost would have worked; if only it all hadn’t been fake.
Go see this at your own risk. At an hour and a half, its not a complete waste of time, and there are some beautiful visions of true love from the real people involved. I’m just beginning to think the whole fake documentary thing people are doing these days just isn’t working anymore. It feels to contrived. If you’re not making mockumentaries, I think its just simply contrived. And sure, perhaps I just don’t get it. But if the message you want to spread falls on misunderstanding ears, have you really done your job as a film maker? It’s something to think about. All in all, I had some laughs and it wasn’t a complete loss. I just really wish it had been true.
Michael and Charlyne’s Paper Heart
Paper Heart has true charm until you find out it's all an act.
Paper Heart
starring Charlyne Yi, Michael Cera, Jake M. Johnson, Demetri Martin, Seth Rogen
directed by Nicholas Jasenovec
This is one of those films that you wonder just where the idea for it came from and who believed enough in it to actually produce it. Now, I don’t mean to start down on the movie, but the premise here is rather thin; we have Charlyne Yi, a semi-well known actress/comedian/musician. You’d know her from her small role in 40 Year Old Virgin. Charlyne seemingly doesn’t believe love exists, and when her director friend Nick (played by Johnson) finds out, he wants to do a documentary about it. So Charlyne is followed across the U.S. by a camera crew while she asks random people what they think love is and whether or not it exists. Like I said, thin.
She interviews a wide variety of people; divorcees, people in 50 year plus marriages, biker gang members, school yard children, a federal divorce court judge, a psychic, and several others. Each has a rather heart warming story to tell, and these are perhaps the most touching parts of the film. Little bits of various ways people believe in true love. Eventually, Charlyne meets Michael, the star of movies such as Year One and Superbad. Michael Cera likes her right off the bat and wants to take her out. Charlyne is resistant, but she eventually goes. They start hanging out a lot as the movie rolls on, and something special starts to develop. Only, Charlyne is reluctant to call it love. The plot thickens from there on out. I left not really knowing whether or not the events on the screen were true, and if they had been, I might have a slightly higher opinion of the film. However, all the interaction between Charlyne, Michael, and ‘Nick’ (again, played by Johnson) is fake. And that steals some of the soul of the story.
Perhaps the best part of the film is Charlyne’s talent with paper dolls. As the couples tell their stories along the way, Charlyne has taken the time to make sets and dolls out of paper and act out the scenes with wire and string. Its highly crude and unfinished work, but they carry a certain charm, and they effectively help to narrate the individual stories. The movie as a whole comes off cutesy because of these, however, and I’m not entirely sure if that is what the production was going for or not. In fact, I’m not really sure they knew exactly what they wanted out of the project. In my mind, it’s as if a few buddies were sitting around and decided to make a movie on the spur of the moment about a very few true facts between friends. But, of course, they had to add in some good parts here and there and develop some sort of half ass narrative to make it work. And all that craziness almost would have worked; if only it all hadn’t been fake.
Go see this at your own risk. At an hour and a half, its not a complete waste of time, and there are some beautiful visions of true love from the real people involved. I’m just beginning to think the whole fake documentary thing people are doing these days just isn’t working anymore. It feels to contrived. If you’re not making mockumentaries, I think its just simply contrived. And sure, perhaps I just don’t get it. But if the message you want to spread falls on misunderstanding ears, have you really done your job as a film maker? It’s something to think about. All in all, I had some laughs and it wasn’t a complete loss. I just really wish it had been true.