Paper Heart (2009/Overture/Anchor Bay Blu-ray + DVD)
Picture: B/C+
Sound: B/C+ Extras: C+ Feature: B-
One of the most tired forms of production is the
Mockumentary and it has become more desperate than ever, yet Nicholas
Jasenovec’s Paper Heart (2009) is
still very interesting, even if it fails to add up the way these productions
normally do. The tired approach is to
build up something, then tell everyone watching it is phony, they are fools for
believing anything they saw and that they are stupid, implying the makers are
somehow very smart when they are talentless and ignorant.
In this case, what we get is not as condescending, yet is
uneven as the character actress Charlyne Yi (Knocked Up) goes around with a microphone (followed by a crew videotaping
her) and asks the simple question “does love exist” with the caveat of whether
she is capable of it or deserves it.
Some friends of hers in the industry participate and that in itself
could have made for an interesting piece if she had stuck to this.
The twist occurs when the she meets up with the actor
Michael Cera (Superbad) and it turns
into something more interesting as they might have some feelings for each
other. However, are they acting or is
this a serious development? The makers
continue the original premise, but that is eventually eclipsed by the new
possibilities (real or scripted) of the Yi/Cera relationship. These two aspects are then suddenly disrupted
by an item that was the focus of the original premise: interviewing unknowns on
the subject, including some “experts” what they think. Then we have an actor playing the director!
In the end, there are enough interesting and funny (some
unintended by the makers which they apparently are unaware of, no matter how
crafty they think they are) and Cera is the best thing about all of this,
proving once again (even after Year One)
to be a real movie star. He has
something to show and say without trying, without pretension and if the film
industry was more serious about making more films about something instead of
toy tie-ins, this would be more obvious.
No matter how scripted, there are enough unscripted moments to show more
of his personality than expected. The
camera likes him and he can only become a bigger star. Remarkably, he is a really good actor too and
comic natural above the usual “mumblecore” gang.
As for Yi, I believe she is more sincere her than not and
though the question asked is obviously unanswerable, it is worth asking just
the same. Maybe next time someone does
in this form, they’ll stick with it. In
the meantime, Paper Heart is worth a
look.
The 1080p 1.78 X 1 digital High Definition image on
Blu-ray was shot in digital High Definition video and has less motion blur and
detail issues than expected, but is still limited and has its flaws. When watchable, it is very watchable. The DVD’s anamorphically enhanced version is much
weaker by comparison than expected, being even softer with poorer Video Black,
depth and detail. The Dolby TrueHD 5.1
mix on the Blu-ray is better than expected despite the location audio flaws,
while the Dolby Digital 5.1 mix on the DVD is again, weaker than expected and
you would never know this sounded as good as it does if you did not hear the
TrueHD first. See this on Blu-ray if
possible over the DVD.
Extras in both versions include a making-of featurette, Yi
singing, Yi & Cera performing an instrumental of “Heaven”, Deleted Scenes, Love Interviews with The Comedians and Paper Heart Uncut piece, while the
Blu-ray adds Digital Copy for PC and PC portable devices.
- Nicholas Sheffo
