Jeanskynebu
the audience applauded
VividSimon
Simply Perfect
Intcatinfo
A Masterpiece!
SnoopyStyle
Nick Jasenovec (Jake Johnson) is directing a documentary about performer Charlyne Yi's search for the meaning of love. She asks people on the street, regular folks, her famous (and not) friends like Seth Rogen, Demetri Martin and even scientists or other 'experts' of love. Then she runs into Michael Cera at a party. As she travels across the country, she connects with Michael and they start dating.The documentary parts are random at times. There is some fun, some profound, and some pedestrian. There are some childlike stop-motion animation segments. Charlyne Yi is adorably awkward. She's great alone or with Jake Johnson. Her chemistry with Michael Cera is a bit sparse. Of course, it's a fictional storyline and is itself awkward. This is definitely different. I did find the DVD extras to be hilarious. I'll keep that part out of the rating. Otherwise I would give this an 8.
lulu_aka_pinky
I watched this movie, thinking I'd be watching a documentary about love, moreover it doesn't hurt that Michael Cera is in it. I usually really enjoy his movies. However I was left feeling very disappointed and cheated. I really do not believe for one second that Michael and Charlyne were ever dating. For starters Charlyne is an extremely bad actress and how convenient is it not that they meet, just as they started this documentary and we get to witness their "relationship" growing? The whole thing feels fake and set up. We have Nick insisting (in a very too obvious way) that he wants to catch everything on tape. I am left wondering what it is he is hoping to catch? At no point do we witness anything between Michael and Charlyne! There is no chemistry, no spark. It's all awkward (a bit too forced and indie if you ask me) and even their first kiss feels forced. As a director, if their relationship was real, Nick should have seen this and pulled the plug on going in that direction. This movie is about finding love and trying to figure out what love is. Yet the only thing it focuses on is a really bad "relationship". Charlyne & Nick travel around, and interview people, yet we don't really get any answers. I feel that the right questions have not been asked. They even go to Paris, "The city of love". Why don't we see anything from there? All we see is Charlyne walking around. Why aren't there any interviews? Why haven't they tried to find out what love is there? It makes absolutely no sense to keep on focusing on Michael and Charlyne when in Paris. Charlyne seems sweet but she lacks charisma, she's obviously awkward and shy (not in a good way) and doesn't shine through. We follow her through a whole movie and we never get to see the true her. How can that be a good choice for a leading person? Michael (and Nick at times) does all the fun things, he is his usual quirky self, which also makes you wonder how real this all is. These "romantic" moments feel forced and acted unfortunately, and I never see any true signs of attraction between those 2. The ending leaves you with a sense of confusion and meaninglessness. I feel that I have wasted my time, this movie is all cute anecdotes and doesn't ask or try to go further in the question of what love is. I feel a great let down, because I usually love Nick and Michael tremendously.
NetLord99
This movie is very much like Charlene Yi. It pretends to be something it's not, and doesn't quite succeed enough on any level. Is it a documentary? No. Is it a scripted movie? Much more so than it pretends not to be.By blending predictable, scripted and entirely acted romantic comedy elements in with what "appears" to be more standard documentary-style interviews, the viewer is left to wonder if anything they are seeing is real, and once that foundation of belief is cracked, the entire movie loses legitimacy. It's not good enough to be a documentary; it's not good enough to be a romantic comedy. Two negatives do not equal a positive.The movie borders on a saccharine-styled Blair Witch Project with better production values. Li further carries this deception into the real world, denying that she's dating Michael Cera, but then noting in other places that their relationship ended in 2009, conveniently as the movie is released. She also tried to create fiction around her age, pretending to be ten years or more older than Cera, even though she looks she could sit in a high school geometry class. This leaves us to wonder, Why? The deception adds nothing to the movie plot, it's not a cutting-edge move, it's really nothing more than an annoyance.From the acting side, Li's cutesy nerd style plays well at the start, but wears thin as the movie progresses. Cera is normally a solid actor, but interesting his scenes are the ones where it's most obvious the movie has drifted from faux documentary to a clearly acted and scripted production. It's a bit unsettling.It's not unwatchable, there's even one or two points where it's almost charming, but many viewers are going to walk away feeling a bit flat, and a bit played.You don't need to dive to find the remote to turn this movie off it it happens to show up for free on your TV. Yet you're not missing anything if you make it through your earthly existence without seeing Paper Heart. It's mildly entertaining, but just as easily could have been produced by a second-year NYU film student.
SeaCal
This movie is entertaining and probably one of the least obnoxious movies I've seen in a long time. The plot centers around innocence and the meaning behind "love", not "Love" -- in other words it was trying to define the term as the movie plays out, instead of assuming what the love interest ("Love") is and allowing the characters to play along. Another thing that made this movie refreshing is that in the beginning the main character was along for the ride as a passenger, and often does some back-seat driving, complaining about the fact that the camera is watching her every move. But as the plot starts to force her to take the wheel, she finds she cannot drive. This is what causes the pinnacle of the movie, when she cannot tell Michael that she loves her, when it is obvious that she does. This discovery of self is what makes the movie interesting -- we discover her as she discovers herself.The writing was fresh, especially since the move took place withing the guise as a documentary. I enjoyed that the director allows us to see behind the movie making facade, and we even see the camera men get in the action occasionally. The interviews with long-time couples kept the fact that this was supposed to be a documentary believable. Also that the actors names were not disguised (although the director was for some reason). Now that I think about it, that makes sense since the move becomes reality only for Charlyne and Michael.Although Charlyne is cute and real, there are some points where I would have liked to see some real acting to keep the documentary aspect a bit more believable. She sometimes has a look on her face of "what am I doing here" and I'm afraid it makes the movie at times lose it's momentum.The vignettes with the paper puppets (or whatever you would call them) are cute and act well to divide the plot up. The last one is perfect for this movie -- Charlyne has gotten herself into a mess she doesn't know how to get out of and must raise herself to a point of toughness where she can even take on the police department. Then in an act of final valor, she pulls Michael along with her for the ride. Charlyne had had moments when she stood up for herself, but the ending summarizes her journey of discovery and validates that she understands that to consummate love sometimes requires a bit of selfishness.I wouldn't underplay Michael's role because he was fantastic in the movie, but this is mostly about Charlyne's journey. Unpredictable most of the time, "quirky" almost to a fault, but with a solid movement towards this climax, this movie is a nice counter play to most of the formula plots in current love story movies.
