Paper Heart

Geeky comedian and actress Charlyne Yi (best known for a supporting role in ‘Knocked Up’) doesn’t believe in love. So she sets out to make a documentary asking ordinary folk – from elderly couples to schoolkids – what love means to them, illustrating their stories with home-made cardboard puppets to a ‘Juno’-esque anti-folk soundtrack. But Yi’s cynicism takes a bashing when, while filming at a party, she meets and falls for geek heartthrob Michael Cera (above). As the two start dating, the film begins to focus on their relationship. But are they really a couple? Is this really a documentary? The fact that Yi and co-writer/director Nicholas Jasenovec won a screenwriting award at Sundance suggests not. Yet it works on both levels. On the surface, this is a perfectly serviceable cutesy rom-com. The segments featuring real people  are genuinely affecting, but the realisation that everything else is probably being acted – that truth may be polluted by hoax – gives this otherwise lightweight film a sly, subversive edge.