Paper Heart

Most genres used in film have been around since story teller began as a main stay of human entertainment. The earliest examples of literature included example of comedy, drama, romance and adventure. It is rare but new genres do get invented every so often and one of the most recent is the mocumentary Most cinemaphiles define this type of movie as a form of satire present in the format of s documentary. They might also point to the 1984 movie ‘This is Spinal Tap’ as the first example of the new genre with Christopher Guest as its creator. While there is no doubt that Guest has made a very successful career shaping and developing his format a case could be made that ‘Citizen Kane’ was a drama done in the style of a pseudo documentary. In any case imitation is a sure sign of success, particularly in the movie business and an increasing number of young film makers have decided to follow in the footsteps of Mr. Guest. Among the most recent is Nicholas Jasenovec with his skewed look at love; ‘Paper Heart’. The film does surprisingly well in conveying its message with a sense of taking the issue of love seriously with a heartfelt wink to the audience. The movie embodies the spirit of independent film; it is a flick that rises above its technical flaws with its honesty and commitment to cinematic experimentation. There is a humanity that pervades the pieces that has the ability to reach out to the audience on an emotional and highly relatable fashion. So many new Indy film makers would have taken the low road equating sex and love by pulling their work down to the- juvenile prevalent in teen oriented ‘R’ rated comedies. This movie attempts to reach an audience that is more concerned with quality and that says a lot about the commitment of the cast and crew.

This is an ambitious freshman work for director and co-writer Nicholas Jasenovec. To his credit he nicely avoided the cheap and easy newcomer route of slash and dash horror flick or a hackney melodramatic tear jerker in favor of a film with substance as well as style. There is almost an innocence depicted here that becomes so appealing that you find yourself caring about the characters even though you fully realize this is not an accrual documentary. In some ways it reminded me of the writings of Jean Shepherd when he looks back on childhood experience in a form similar to an anthropologist studying some distant, long lost culture. It comes across more real than any of the so called reality shows on television. His co-author for this movie also serves as the central character. Charlyne Yi is just starting out transitioning from a career as a standup comedian to become a character actress in film. So far she has had little parts where her role is descriptive instead of a name such as ‘Party Goer’ or ‘Dorky Girl’. Playing character roles is a time honored way for an actor to get known while honing their on screen skills. Yi has such an affable screen presence that it is almost impossible not to enjoy her work here. The same can be said about her co-star Michael Cera. He is a young man whose star is definitely on the rise. He is a character actor about to break through to leading roles. He is an average looking guy which is something that works extremely well for the parts he has been getting. He burst on the scene with role in popular flick like ‘Superbsd’ and ‘Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist’. He is someone that every guy in the audience is able to identify with, especially when he gets the beautiful leading lady.

The premise of the movie is beautiful in its simplicity. Yi doesn’t understand the phenomena called love. This is a subject that most of us fail to fully comprehend but Yi and her partner in this project, Jasenovec set out on a road trip across the country to investigate the matter. Along the way Yi gets to chat about love with a wide cross section of Americans which forms the heart of the film. The people drawn into the discussion run the full gamut of sociopolitical and economical strata. We get to hear the thoughts of bikers, scientists and just about everyone in between. This mocumentary would have actually worked if it was done as a straight documentary. During the course of filming Yi meets fellow actor Michael Cera. The chemistry between them flourishes into a growing relationship. The second level of the movie details the stages that we go through as love begins to take hold. Jasenovec seems to appear but actually remains behind the camera played by professional actor Jake M Johnson. When he notices the budding relationship he comes up with the idea of including it as a counterpoint to the investigation. This adds yet another level to the film by revealing the cynical view of romance that is fostered by the popular media. The part about the relationship was true, at least during filming. Yi and Cera were together for three years and only recently parted ways. This did add a level of realism and a poignant aftermath to the movie. This is just a pleasant little film that is well worth viewing and adding to your collection.

Posted 11/23/09