Rating: 8/10

Writers: Nicholas Jasenovec and Charlyne Yi
Director: Nicholas Jasenovec
Cast: Charlyne Yi, Jake Johnson, Michael Cera
Studio: Overture Films

PAPER HEART is unique in that it is both fiction and non-fiction. Narrative and documentary. On one hand, you have the non-fiction documentary side to the film, which chronicles a cross-country road trip from LA to New York with the same goal every other journey set forth on this green Earth and beyond has desired – discovery. Yet, this trek is not for the discovery of tangible wealth. No, it is the wealth of knowledge these adventurers seek. Knowledge of a treasure greater than gold or silver or other riches. Knowledge of love. What does the the word mean? Is it real? Can it be found if searched for, or does it hit you like a proverbial misguided arrow from Cupid’s bow? These are the questions these explorers seek to find answers and gain perspective on.

The conquistadors of love in this case are actress/comedian Charlyne Yi, playing Charlyne Yi, and actor Jake Johnson, playing a director to the faux documentary by the name of Nicholas Jasenovec…which happens to be the name of PAPER HEART’s real life director who directs both the real and fake aspects of the film. Still with me? I swear it makes sense! Let’s move along, shall we?

On the other side, you have the fictional aspect of the film, centered around a developing relationship between Yi and actor Michael Cera. Don’t worry, he plays himself. As Charlyne departs on her love odyssey, gathering opinions from everyone from an Elvis-impersonating minister in Las Vegas to kids on a playground, she begins to see the possibility of love in her own life with Cera. But, as love goes, things are…well…complicated.

In reviewing this film, the discussion could almost be split into two parts due to the unconventional nature of the story. But the unconventional nature is what works so well for PAPER HEART, setting it apart from previous documentaries and road movies alike. With the documentary aspect, it is both simplistic and complicated in its examination of love. But is love itself not both simplistic and complicated? To this question I must answer a definite yes. Based on past experiences, of course. Which is exactly what we are given in PAPER HEART. As Yi and Jasenovec (Johnson) and Jasenovec hop from small town to small town, interviewing various “experts” on the subject, we are given what is a hodgepodge of opinions on what true love truly is. From the scientific to the logical to the illogical to the innocent to the not-so-innocent, PAPER HEART beautifully examines just how different love can look and feel in the puzzle we call a world. If you leave the theater feeling anything, it is that you are a puzzle piece in that world. Sometimes you fit with the other pieces, and sometimes you don’t.

On the other hand, the fictional aspect of the film works on a different level, while ultimately trying to achieve the same message – that love doesn’t come easy and it is something that you only fully understand by being in it, or out of it, for that matter. If the documentary exists to only explore the thoughts about love, allowing you to draw your own conclusions, the fictional aspect attempts to send a particular message that love isn’t always easy. As Yi asks her famous friends – Seth Rogen and Demetri Martin, to name a few – if she is capable of love, she gets her firsthand chance to find out as she meets and enters into a relationship with Cera. But being young and not knowing what love is makes it hard to decipher if you have it or not. And thus the story of Yi and Cera, while providing most of the film’s hilarious moments against the tender backdrop, frame the story in such a way to give it personal perspective. In other words, you can have all the knowledge and advice in the world about love, but it takes being in it yourself to truly get it.

From a filmmaking stand point, PAPER HEART feels as if it is something Wes Anderson may have made in his younger years as an indie auteur contemplating love. The cinematography reflects photography out of a vintage travel guide of the U.S., capturing the tiny details that make Nowhere, America beautiful in its own way. In terms of editing, the story is weaved together in such a way that balances both an organic documentary pacing within a film that has an obvious intended message. Yi and Cera both play themselves to be believable, in all their awkwardness and dry humor. It is a difficult task for an actor to play a improvisational version of yourself, while still acting within a story that has to go somewhere, all while coming off as genuine. The two pull it off flawlessly, even to the point that the fiction and non-fiction seem to blend, creating a few truly heart-wrenching scenes. I look forward to seeing more of Yi in film, whose awkwardness and innocence in PAPER HEART is so endearing and cute you just want to hug her. Who really shines, though, is Johnson, who has the daunting task of playing a fake director to a fake film, all while being real. I could write something witty or well-thought out to compliment his acting and improvisational talents, but I feel it is best said with this truth and testament. Until recently, I thought Johnson was the real director and was quite shocked to find that he was, in fact, an actor. There you have it.

The score, featuring the likes of Cera, Yi, and Zach Condon of Beirut fame, accompany the film and its tones in a way that music does at a party or in your head during a moment of joy or sadness. As for the crafty puppetry that give us our dramatizations, or reenactments if you will, of stories of valor in the face of love…well, those are just cute. They provide the film with an innocence, just as playing house with the girl or boy next door did when you were young. To play off the pun, they add a literal craft-like sense to the film, which appeals to the idea that the documentary could be seen as a grown-up science fair experiment.

Do you recall the steps of the scientific method? Has it been that long?

Ask a Question: Is love real? If so, what is love?

Do Background Research: Go from small town to small town, asking various people about their experiences with love and what does it mean to them.

Construct a Hypothesis: Love is real. That it comes in all shapes and colors. That it is found in many different forms. That it is the one thing shared by old and young alike. Love is all around us.

Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment: Meet someone, planned or unexpected. See if you love them.

Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion: If in love with the person, hypothesis is correct due to the fact that you can see and feel it in your own life. If not in love with the person, hypothesis is correct due to the fact that, by admitting you don’t love the person, you admit that love is at least real. You have to know what something isn’t to know what it is. The only way to reach this conclusion is by learning through love.

Communicate Your Results: Make a wonderful documentary (sort of) about love. Show it to the world. Allow others to gain perspective on their own love through it. Call it PAPER HEART.