Cast

Charlyne Yi, Michael Cera, Jake M. Johnson, Gill Summers, Martin Starr, Seth Rogen, Demetri Martin

awards

Sundance FF 2009 – Waldo Salt screenwriting award

Film description

What is love after the sexual revolution, in an age of internet and speed dating, one-night stands, instant marriage and easy divorce? Is the idea of romantic love, as depicted by poets, authors, and Hollywood films, at all possible, or is it an ethereal fantasy, a utopian delusion of the collective conscious, which has little to do with reality? Screenwriter Charlyne Yi is 20 years old and claims not to believe in love because her own experiences contradict the pop-culture myth. Charlene’s object of desire is actor Michael Cera (star of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, from our Highlights section). She takes on investigating love, which is by definition indefinable, with her friend and director, Nick Jasenovec. Their project is a documentary road film where Charlyne interviews friends, random people, scientists, fortunetellers, visits biker dive bars, and seeks advice from couples together their entire lives and from romance novel authors. She wants to know what true love is and is it possible? During her research, she meets a guy and, for the sake of science, agrees to become an experimental bunny for ‘project heart’ and have the camera follow her on dates. Paper Heart is a thought provoking hybrid of a documentary and classic love story.

Ewa Szabłowska