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Paper Heart

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Paper Heart (2009)

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Reviews Counted:95

Fresh:57

Rotten:38

Average Rating:5.8/10

Consensus: Equal parts charming and refreshing, Paper Heart is a quirky mockumentary led by the endearing Charlyne Yi.

Rated: PG-13 [See Full Rating] for some language.

Runtime: 89 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:Aug 7, 2009 Limited

Box Office: $1,149,350

Synopsis: Charlyne Yi does not believe in love. Or so she says. Well, at the very least, she doesn’t believe in fairy-tale love or the Hollywood mythology of love, and her own experiences have turned her... Charlyne Yi does not believe in love. Or so she says. Well, at the very least, she doesn’t believe in fairy-tale love or the Hollywood mythology of love, and her own experiences have turned her into yet another modern-day skeptic.

Paper Heart follows Charlyne as she embarks on a quest across America to make a documentary about the one subject she doesn’t fully understand. As she and her good friend (and director) Nicholas search for answers and advice about love, Charlyne talks with friends and strangers, scientists, bikers, romance novelists, and children. They each offer diverse views on modern romance, as well as various answers to the age-old question: does true love really exist?

Then, shortly after filming begins, Charlyne meets a boy after her own heart: Michael Cera. As their relationship develops on camera, her pursuit to discover the nature of love takes on a fresh new urgency. Charlyne risks losing the person she finds closest to her heart.

Combining elements of documentary and traditional storytelling, reality and fantasy, Paper Heart brings a fresh perspective to the modern romance and redefines the classic love story. --© Overture [More]

Starring: Charlyne Yi, Michael Cera, Jake Johnson

Starring: Charlyne Yi, Michael Cera, Jake Johnson

Director: Nicholas Jasenovec

Director: Nicholas Jasenovec
Screenwriter: Nicholas Jasenovec, Charlyne Yi
Producer: Sandra Murillo, Elise Saloman
Studio: Overture

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Release:

Dec 1, 2009

[DVD Details]
 
 

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Widescreen - 1.78

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
  • Subtitles - Spanish
 
 
 
 

Reviews for Paper Heart

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1 - 20 (sorted by date)
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Yi's worldview is best represented by a song she writes for Cera, a Weezer-esque bit of nerd rock called You Smell Like Christmas. At first the song is irritating, but it sticks in your head and just like Paper Heart, the song is annoyingly hummable.

Full Review Source: Examiner.com | comment Comment
12/25/09
Adam Lippe
Adam Lippe
Examiner.com

It’s not the worst cutesy, lo-fi love story you’ll ever see, but it’s shown up by all those genuine true-life tales. Alongside them, its falseness is too glaring.

Full Review Source: Sunday Times (UK) | comment Comment
11/13/09
Edward Porter
Edward Porter
Sunday Times (UK)

An extremely irritating, narcissistic picture.

Full Review Source: Observer [UK] | comment 1 Comment
11/13/09
Philip French
Philip French
Observer [UK]

The segments featuring real people are genuinely affecting, but the realisation that everything else is probably being acted – that truth may be polluted by hoax – gives this otherwise lightweight film a sly, subversive edge.

Full Review Source: Time Out | comment Comment
11/06/09
Sarah Cohen
Sarah Cohen
Time Out

Whimsical, solipsistic and self-indulgent, Paper Heart represents everything that is wrong with American independent cinema.

Full Review Source: Times [UK] | comment Comment
11/06/09
Wendy Ide
Wendy Ide
Times [UK]

A world-beatingly annoying and pointless "docu-romcom".

Full Review Source: Guardian [UK] | comment Comment
11/06/09
Peter Bradshaw
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]

The movie’s winsome artificiality may drive you bananas.

Full Review Source: Daily Telegraph | comment Comment
11/06/09
Tim Robey
Tim Robey
Daily Telegraph

Like Yi herself, the film may seem at times rather naïve in its outlook, but it’s also honest and entertaining.

Full Review Source: Little White Lies | comment Comment
11/06/09
Nikki Baughan
Nikki Baughan
Little White Lies

Where Paper Heart does shine, however, is in the reflections of the general public and few will fail to be moved by their truly inspiring and heartwarming stories of true love.

Full Review Source: Digital Spy | comment Comment
11/06/09
Lara Martin
Lara Martin
Digital Spy

Yi is a unique tour guide, her deadpan demeanour, embarrassed giggle and horn-rimmed specs generating non-starry appeal.

Full Review Source: Total Film | comment Comment
11/06/09
Kevin Harley
Kevin Harley
Total Film

An over-arching smugness blights this comic investigation into true love.

Full Review Source: Radio Times | comment Comment
11/06/09
David Parkinson
David Parkinson
Radio Times

Some viewers have found this film adorable but its quirky cuteness was lost on me.

Full Review Source: Daily Express | comment Comment
11/06/09
Allan Hunter
Allan Hunter
Daily Express

Either you will find this cheaply made American independent docudrama charming or faintly irritating.

Full Review Source: This is London | comment Comment
11/06/09
Derek Malcolm
Derek Malcolm
This is London

The film becomes more bewitching the more it loses direction. Yi stops questioning strangers and starts questioning herself. She also interrogates the ability, or inability, of cinema to follow love into its deepest mazes.

Full Review Source: Financial Times | comment Comment
11/06/09
Nigel Andrews
Nigel Andrews
Financial Times

This indie squib wobbles briefly on a tightrope between sincerity and cuteness before plunging headlong to a death-by-whimsy.

Full Review Source: Independent | comment Comment
11/06/09
Anthony Quinn
Anthony Quinn
Independent

A heart-warmer to make a cynic grin.

Full Review Source: Empire Magazine | comment Comment
11/06/09
Angie Errigo
Angie Errigo
Empire Magazine

Yi and Cera are both excellent, though the film is considerably hampered by the lack of any real chemistry between them and their romance fails to convince as a result.

Full Review Source: ViewLondon | comment Comment
11/06/09
Matthew Turner
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon

Sort of like a twee version of Curb Your Enthusiasm, it's this blurring of fact and fiction that transforms Paper Heart into a rom-com for the cynical reality-TV age, one that smartly uses documentary elements to provide real heart.

Full Review Source: Scotsman | comment Comment
11/06/09
Alistair Harkness
Alistair Harkness
Scotsman
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | comment Comment
10/02/09
Sydney Morning Herald
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Mildly amusing at best, the interviews are accompanied by twee animated segments featuring paper dolls, which should fill any right-thinking person with disgust.

Full Review Source: The Age (Australia) | comment Comment
09/24/09
Jake Wilson
Jake Wilson
The Age (Australia)
 
 
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Latest News for Paper Heart

August 06, 2009: Critics Consensus: It's Quiet For G.I. Joe. Too Quiet.
This week at the movies, we got real American heroes (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, starring Dennis Quaid and Sienna Miller); kitchen chronicles (Julie & Julia, starring Meryl... More...

August 06, 2009: Box Office Guru Preview: Go, Joe!
Some real American heroes look to storm the box office this weekend as Paramount unleashes its latest toy franchise film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. Sony counters with the... More...

July 28, 2009: Paper Heart Contest Winners Announced!
We want to thank everyone who submitted love poems to our Paper Heart Twitter Contest! Paper Heart's very own Charlyne Yi and director Nick Jasenovec personally read through... More...

July 27, 2009: Comic-Con Wrap: Iron Man 2, New Moon Best In Show
The truth about Sunday at this year's Comic-Con is that it was the day most people skipped - even the Hollywood studios. With only two film panels slated for the day (Overture's... More...

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