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Paper HeartClaudia PuigEven the most cynical are likely to be won over by the unassuming charms of Paper Heart. This documentary-romance hybrid follows the endearingly offbeat comic actress Charlyne Yi on a cross-country quest to define, understand and accept the notion of love. It's something Yi doesn't fully comprehend or possibly even believe in, but she's determined to figure it out. By the film's end, it's unclear if she has come any closer to her goal, but the filmgoer accompanying her on the odyssey will have enjoyed the trek. Paper Heart is refreshingly, almost defiantly inventive. A big part of its charm is the bespectacled and slightly addled Yi. Winsome and sincere, she interviews a broad range of people about love. She is low-key and genuine, unusual for someone who also is a stand-up comic. Yi asks serious questions in the slightly goofy manner of biologists and chemists, and listens earnestly as seniors describe why they've spent decades with their mates. She is fearless in a biker bar, and in one of the movie's best scenes, she relates playfully and sincerely with outspoken kids on a playground. Yi meets actor Michael Cera - as likable as she is - at a party, and they connect awkwardly. But what began haltingly blossoms into a heartfelt bond, its uneasy progression captured on film. As Yi looks into the nature of love, she stumbles upon it herself. Paper Heart doesn't always have a clear path, but that is part of its meandering appeal. It asks if true love exists, then renders it a rhetorical question. ?© Copyright 2009 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc. |
