The media has had a field day trying to suss out how much of Nick Jasenovec and Charlyne Yi‘s “hybrid documentary” Paper Heart is truth and and how much is fiction – specifically, whether the film’s depiction of a blossoming romance between stars Yi and Michael Cera (Superbad) is rooted in reality or not. Honestly, we find that question far less engaging than the ones Yi poses in “man on the street” interviews all across America, in her often comical quest to figure out love – up to and including if it exists at all. In the documentary-like portions of the film, Yi’s like a pint-sized Michael Moore: less bullish, more giggly, but just as game. Full-contact, first-person filmmaking isn’t the only tradition Paper Heart, which opens in Austin on Friday, is working in; click on the photo gallery for more of Paper Heart‘s cinematic simpaticos.
This article appears in August 14 • 2009.
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A graduate of the Michener Center for Writers at the University of Texas, Kimberley has written about film, books, and pop culture for The Austin Chronicle since 2000. She was named Editor of the Chronicle in 2016; she previously served as the paper’s Managing Editor, Screens Editor, Books Editor, and proofreader. Her work has been awarded by the Association of Alternative Newsmedia for excellence in arts criticism, team reporting, and special section (Best of Austin). The Austin Alliance for Women...
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