Paper Heart review

A girl goes on the road to find out what true love means to people

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Previously seen stoned in Knocked Up, sometime stand-up Charlyne Yi has never been in love.

So in this playful quasi-documentary she hauls a camera crew on the road to interview people about capital-R Romance.

Along the way, she chats to Seth Rogen – but more importantly, she meets Michael Cera who, in typical Cera-speak, “pretty much” pairs up with Yi. Is she really going out with him?

Who knows, but Yi is a unique tour guide, her deadpan demeanour, embarrassed giggle and horn-rimmed specs generating non-starry appeal.

Not all of the subtexts hold weight (especially the one involving media intrusion), while hard-nosed viewers might find the Yi-designed puppet-show interludes too cute by half. But even they will probably warm to the true-love confessionals from bikers, Elvis lookalikes, gay couples and long-term spouses.

And if truth, lies and ambiguities start to merge into a tricky tangle – well, isn’t love a bit like that?

Freelance writer

Kevin Harley is a freelance journalist with bylines at Total Film, Radio Times, The List, and others, specializing in film and music coverage. He can most commonly be found writing movie reviews and previews at GamesRadar+.