Paper Heart (2009)

VERDICT:
6/10 Hipster Romances

Cute and quirky. Gotsta have that cute and quirky.

Paper Heart is a semi-documentary that follows up-and-coming comedienne Charlyne Yi in her quest to be proven wrong that there’s no such thing as true love. Then one day she meets Michael Cera at a house party hosted by every extra from every Judd Apatow movie, he takes a liking to her, they start hanging out with cameras on them at all times, and so they just kinda see where it takes them.

Oh, just look at them running down that hill in their skinny jeans. Just adorable.

So the reason I refer to it as a “semi-documentary” is because director Nicholas Jasenovec is approaching this story from two different angles. The first of which is to interview real-life couples about how they fell in love and to give Charlyne Yi a microphone so that she can go around the globe asking strangers on the street if they believe in true love and such. That’s all legit and that’s all pretty interesting. The other angle is to script a connection between Cera and Yi and play it off like it’s not scripted so that it seems like we’re watching their love blossom before our very eyes. This doesn’t work as well because Cera gone on record to say that it was fake and you’d have to be one gullible bastard to buy it in the first place, but it’s still not bad.

All in all, it’s not exactly a Swiss watch of a plan, but I still dug it for the most part, at least it’s different. Somewhat strange how all the Michael & Charlyne stuff isn’t nearly as interesting as the strangers they run into, then again, I guess listening to actual love stories tends to be more engaging than listening to imagined ones. Wasn’t crazy about the way the said love stories are animated like a diorama I made in fourth grade/something you’d find over at Look At This Fucking Hipster, nor was I a big fan of the ending which wraps up the same way, but whatever, the stories are good and that’s what matters.

And Charlyne Yi is a charming lead, I just wish she kept on being as funny as when we’re first introduced to her. She was damn funny in Knocked Up, but this whole thing gets too serious after a while anyway.

But as far as Michael Cera is concerned, his turn here was a revelation of sorts for me. For ages now, I just figured that the only trick up his sleeve was playing George Michael Bluth every single time and riding that train ’til we just got sick of him. But lo and behold, Michael Cera isn’t George Michael at all, it’s completely the other way around. Michael Cera’s been playing Michael Cera this whole time and we’ve been knocking him for being a one-trick pony. Well the joke is on us, because even though I’d love to see him play a serial killer and he made a fine action star in Scott Pilgrim, it’s pretty refreshing to see a kid who’s just being himself for a change. It’s not like he’s a saving grace though, he’s just doing his thing and I appreciate that.

Paper Heart is nice, I like the half-documentary, half-mockumentary (if that’s what you’d even call it) approach, and there are some pleasant laughs to be had. Unfortunately, it’s also pretty forgettable and the only reason I’m writing about it instead of The Host today is because I’m worried that if I don’t bang it out now, yet another month will go by, more beer will be consumed, and I’ll have even fewer pros and cons to remember it by. Enjoyed it for what it was even if it didn’t hit me on any real emotional level, but not a bad movie by any means.

Just fluffy and sweet, like celluloid cotton candy or something.