Paper Heart, Blu-ray (2009)
Starring: Charlyne Yi, Michael Cera
Directed by: Nicholas Jasenovec
Studio: Anchor Bay Entertainment (2 discs, incl. digital copy)
Video : 1.78:1 for 16:9 color; 1080p HD
Audio: English Dolby True HD 5.1 Surround
Subtitles: English SDH and Spanish
Extras: “Paper Heart Uncut” featurette; “The Making of Paper Heart” featurette; “Live Musical Performances by Charlyne Yi”; “Love Interviews with the Comedians”; “Heaven” music video by Charlyne Yi and Michael Cera; 17 deleted scenes; trailers
Length: 88 minutes
Movie Rating: ***1/2 Video Rating: *** Audio Rating: ***1/2
A 2009 Sundance Film Festival screenwriting award-winning film, “Paper Heart” features Charlyne Yi in a documentary fashion, wandering about the country discussing the topic of love. Claiming never to have been in love herself, Yi poses questions to everyday people such as how did they meet, what keeps them together, and what does love mean to them. The interviews comprise about half of the movie’s running time. The other half focuses on Yi’s budding romance with actor Michael Cera (“Superbad” and “Year One”). It is unclear whether this is a real romance or one created just for the movie. I thought that the interview portion of the film worked well and it was quite interesting to hear different people’s perspectives on love. The Yi-Cera romance portion of the film was not as enjoyable for me, especially given how awkward and quirky both actors are on-screen. Fans of Charlyne Yi will want to own this movie, but others may want to check “Paper Heart” out as a rental first.
The high definition video quality of “Paper Heart” is about average. Images are on the softer side overall and lack the crispness associated with most new release titles. Black levels are dark and consistent throughout the film. Colors are accurate, if a bit muted, with hues that are sufficiently-saturated. While film grain is noticeable during segments of the movie, picture defect mastering is otherwise fairly solid. The overall audio quality of the English Dolby 5.1 surround track is a little better than the video. The soundtrack predominantly favors the forward soundstage. Dialogue is natural-sounding and firmly rooted in the center channel. The surround channels are minimally utilized for the sound effects and music score. The low frequency effects channel remains inactive for the most part, but has some punch when engaged.
– Calvin Harding Jr.