Movie Review Rewind: Paper Heart (2009)

Brandon Vick flips the calendar back to 2009 for a look at Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera in Paper Heart on this edition of Movie Review Rewind.

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Paper Heart is a different look at romance. It mixes fantasy with reality, and the beginning of a relationship that actually exists in reality between the stars of the film, Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera. The film takes a documentary-like approach to tell a story about love…or the non-believers of love. Yi does not believe in love and does not understand it. So she travels the country to find out what love means to others, while trying to figure out her own opinion about the subject. While on this journey, she starts a friendship-turned-relationship with Cera. And while she is trying to learn what love is, she is starting to discover it for herself.

Yi and Cera are together in real life, so this film really falls in between fiction and nonfiction. If you did not know any better, you would think this was a real documentary. Credit goes to this film for trying a new approach. The chemistry between Yi and Cera is interesting and you can tell how they feel about each other in real life. They both have a quirky, unique humor that only they may get. However, while Paper Heart starts out interesting – it does not last. The longer this film goes, the less interesting it is. Co-writer/director Nicholas Jasenovec tries a fresh approach, but this ends the same way other films do that are in this genre.

There is some imagination to it, especially the scenes that are practically homemade by using cardboard figures and props. But there are only a few of those scenes in the film. There is nothing wrong with the cast or acting. Yi is a very charming girl with an unmistakable laugh that makes you laugh. The flaw is the story itself. The mistake of this film is it’s trying to be different, but still falls into the same trap and it defeats the purpose. It deserves credit for trying, but Paper Heart loses its interest and originality by the end.

Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.

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