***SYNOPSIS*** In Paper Heart,Yi does not believe in love.Or so she says.At the very least,she doesn't believe in fairy-tale love or the Hollywood mythology of love, and her own experiences have turned her into a modern-day skeptic.The story follows Yi as she embarks on a quest across America to make a documentary about the one subject she doesn't fully understand: Love.Combining elements of the documentary and traditional storytelling, reality and fantasy, Paper Heart brings a fresh perspective to the modern romance and redefines the classic story of love.
Michael Cera enters the film about a third of the way in.He is at a party with the director and chats a few moments with Yi.From here their relationship grows slowly and there is not one moment that their time spent together feels strained or phony.Cera plays his usual sweet, funny self.It adds to what we see on the screen being that they became a couple away from the film as well.There are some quick cameos as well from Seth Rogen, Martin Starr both Freaks & Geeks alumni.There are some warm moments that are a welcomed addition.Despite what has happened in Yi and Cera's relationship since the film was made (the couple split just as they were doing their promotional rounds for the film) this is an honest, endearing, and though it sounds cliche adorably sweet.
***VIDEO QUALITY***Presented in it's original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 Paper Heart comes to Blu-ray in a pleasing transfer.Colors have good saturation without ever bleeding and fleshtones seemed to be spot on.Blacks are generally rock solid except for some low light scenes that exhibited video noise due to this film being shot on digital video.Contrast was a solid performer as well.There is a nice amount of fine detail that was welcomed including floral patterns,stitching on clothes,etc. all coming across crisp and natural.Anchor Bay has included a fine video presentation that was a nice surprise given the guerilla style film-making. 9/10
***AUDIO QUALITY***The film makes it's home format debut with a solid Dolby TrueHD 5.1track.The best aspect of the presentation is better than expected stereo separation highlighting the film's music.Surrounds feature some really fun effects that were mixed with a keen sense of placement that makes the opening of refrigerator,traffic,fireworks, and crowd din to fill the soundstage.I was pleasantly surprised by the good amount of bass and bullets whizzing by to the surrounds during the final scene of the film.Dialogue is always crisp and understandable.A solid performer like this deserves a 8.5/10
***SPECIAL FEATURES***
* "Paper Heart Uncut" (HD,8min) - Roughly 8 minutes of fun bloopers.
* "The Making of Paper Heart" (HD,11min) - A short but sweet featurette that gives the viewer more insight behind the steps the cast and crew took to make this special little movie.
* Live Musical Performances by Charlyne Yi (HD,6min) - Yi performs 4 songs.
* "Heaven" music video by Charlene Yi & Michael Cera (HD,2min) - Cera and Yi perform the song "Heaven".Good song.
* Love Interviews with the Comedians: (HD,25min) - Eight different one-on-one interviews with the performers listed below.Some pretty funny stuff is included here.
o Paul Rust o Jason Ritter o Bill Hader o Bobcat Goldthwait o David Krumholtz o Demetri Martin o Paul Scheer o Rob Huebel
* Deleted Scenes - (HD,31min) - Seventeen separate deleted scenes are presented here.I found more than a few of these to be quite amusing.Definitley worth your time.
* Digital Copy - A digital copy DVD-Rom disc is included to download a portable media copy of the film.It can then be transferred to a PC, iPod, or MP3 Player.