Colin George "Paper Heart" is everything you'd expect from a post "Juno" Sundance darling, which is probably enough information in itself to color your opinion of the film. First-time feature director Nicholas Jasenovec's pseudo-documentary examines the fictional relationship between comedienne Charlyne Yi ("Knocked Up," "Semi-Pro"), whose thesis is that she is incapable of love, and her real-life boyfriend, Michael Cera, who's fast becoming the festival's crowned prince. The footage is spliced together with decidedly ho-hum celebrity interviews (Seth Rogen, Demitri Martin are featured) nonchalantly credited as "Charlyne's Friends," experts in the psychology of love, and real couples recounting the foundation of their relationships, aided by ultra low-fi reenactments by Yi featuring rag dolls and paper sets.The film is wholly indie, hitting the familiar beats and consulting that worn checklist (awkward quirky character's self-written guitar sequence--check). It's too cute and well meaning to dismiss outright, but for a film about love, it has nothing particularly profound to say on the subject. So "Paper Heart" seems then a fitting (if self-deprecating) title for the piece in that the real elements are supporting a merely average fiction, rather than the scripted segments bolstering a real love story: the heart of the film is flimsy, two- dimensional."Paper Heart" is in large part not compelling because we know it's fake. The audience second-guesses any potentially genuine moment between Yi and Cera, reducing the documentary elements to supplemental gimmickry and each awkward giggle to a calculation. The structure of the film is fairly formated (narrative/interview/reenactment/narrative), assumedly with the intention of keeping any one of the film's components from growing stale, but it almost has the opposite effect. The grating sequence of scene types ends up highlighting how little the filmmakers really have on their plate. The ending then scrapes the bottom of the barrel, taking a page from Herzog's "Grizzly Man" in its snooty refusal to share a piece of audio (here a post break-up conversation between Yi and Cera), but if the restricted information is fictional, who do they imagine cares?Jasenovec and Yi, who's credited as co-writer, developed some intriguing concepts to be sure, and the premise sounds enlightening, but the utterly average romance between she and her co-star diffuses any potential... well, potential. What have we learned about love by the end of the hour and a half? Certainly nothing we couldn't have gleaned from a hundred other PG-13 romantic comedies."Paper Heart" does have a clear audience in mind, and it's fair to note I'm not it. The film will satisfy most and delight probably a few less traveled moviegoers. Approach it as a fictional film, and you may be less let down. The characters are mostly charming (save for the faux director played by a smarmy Jake M. Johnson), and there are a handful of legitimate laughs to be had.Just don't listen to the Sundance hype that would have you believe every two-bit indie film coming off the assembly line is a revelation compared to Hollywood's weekly drivel. The truth is that independent films, particularly comedies, are becoming increasingly generic and exponentially more mainstream."Paper Heart" is likable enough, but is still a long shot from innovation.

Ronn Alford Whatever potential this film could have had simply crashed and burned.I was even more annoyed when I read after the fact that it was a "mockumentary"; that it wasn't even real. Awkwardness like this I imagined couldn't be faked. So maybe they are better actors than I thought. Nonetheless I really didn't like this movie and the only thing that would have made it any worse would be if I had paid to see this movie in a theater. Or if it was longer. Don't waste your time.Really. Just don't.

TxMike 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.

valis1949 Charlyne Yi, star of the faux-documentary, PAPER HEART, takes a most controversial stand on The Cosmology of Love. Not only has she never been in love, but she doesn't feel that it will ever happen to her because True Love might not even exist. And, after a random series of interviews and events, she creates a very strong defense for her position. While watching the film you are constrained to consider how silly and weak are the reasons and justifications that most people seem to have for their 'True Love'. The folks that were interviewed didn't seem to have any more valid cause to believe in 'True Love' than a six year old has a factual basis for a belief in Santa Clause. They all seemed to describe a 'wondrous experience', but I couldn't help thinking that it could also be seen as a 'delightful delusion'. PAPER HEART seems to demonstrate that most of what we suppose is 'True Love' is nothing more than heartfelt wishes which change into conviction over time. As one partner related how she first became aware of her love for her husband, I thought it was most revealing to watch closely the expression on her partner's face as her tale unfolded. Throughout most of the exchange, his expression seemed disconcerting at best. PAPER HEART is a small, light, and engaging film, and Charlyne Yi has more than enough charm to pull off the premise, but after the film ended, it left me with the feeling that maybe Arranged Marriages were not such a bad idea. And, maybe she does too.