Parents' Guide to

Paper Heart

By Sandie Angulo Chen, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 13+

Quirky semi-documentary about love is cute for teens.

Movie PG-13 2009 88 minutes
Paper Heart Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 10+

Based on 1 parent review

values
values Parent of 10-year-old
December 23, 2010
age 10+
I clicked role models aren't good for the scene in the bar with the biker when he was talking about treating his wife like ****. I think he had a little too much too drink. I wouldn't say this is appropriate for all 10 year olds. My daughter can't handle scary that the average 10 year old can handle but can handle that not everything you see in the world do you do yourself. Very cute story line. The message of what love is and the importance of forgiveness shines through.

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What's the Story?

Young comedic actress/performance artist Charlyne Yi (best known as Martin Starr's zoned-out girlfriend in Knocked Up) sets out on the ultimate adventure: to find out whether love truly exists. Skeptical of the concept of love, Yi; her director, Nick (played by actor Jake M. Johnson); and a tiny film crew embark on a cross-country journey to interview professors, novelists, divorcees, and couples -- all to determine the mechanics of love. Along the way, she gets to know the smitten, amazingly earnest Michael Cera (Juno, Superbad) and starts longing to be around him. But is it love?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (1):
Kids say (3):

Yi is a refreshingly tomboyish Everygirl. Her incredibly expressive face lets you know exactly how she feels with every bulge of her eyes, downturn of her mouth, or lift of her eyebrows. Her skepticism about love makes the scenes with the geeky-but-adorable Cera sweetly predictable (the girl who doesn't believe in love discovers it on film for the very first time!), until she admits in front of him and her crew that she basically doesn't love him. Later, when she realizes how much she misses him, she begins to second-guess herself, which is, for a movie, pretty predictable.

The best part of PAPER HEART (a "hybrid" of documentary footage and scripted filmmaking) isn't the When Harry Met Sally-style interviews with couples, but enchanting little cardboard puppet shows used to depict the various love stories told in those interviews. Each interlude is magical, despite (or perhaps because of) the crude materials that look straight out of a preschool craft closet: aluminum foil, yarn, cardboard, and toy vehicles. Ingeniously crafted, the mixed-media, mixed-form film is charming and uplifting -- a welcome change from all the crass cynicism that's usually on display at the multiplex.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about adolescent and adult relationships, especially in light of the one couple who got married at 17. Do you think there are any rules about what makes a successful relationship?

  • Do you think this movie fits into the documentary genre, or should it be considered a comedy? Is it disappointing to know that the "director" in the movie was played by an actor?

  • What did you think of the puppet segments? How did they work (or not) with the rest of the movie?

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