Ah, Luv

Charlyne Yi is a really odd person, but her fusion film Paper Heart (2009) – part comedy, drama, and documentary – is an oddly cute effort to ruminate on the nature of love: What is it? How do you recognize it? When is it real? When is it dead? Blah-blah-blah.

It’s also one of those ‘Hey, let’s make movies together!” productions that some creative couples did which inadvertently preceded a break up, making the film somewhat ironic, becoming a snapshot of a giddy romance when things were good.

Remember Bruce Willis and Demi Moore in Mortal Thoughts (1991)? He started out as a ‘happy-go-lucky guy,’ and then… Uh… Nevermind.

Paper Heart works as a light docu-something, and there are some genuinely funny moments that bridge the docu-vignettes. It’s also beautifully shot and edited, and the film has good, compact pacing which keeps the running time just under 90 mins.

Although there’s no commentary track on Anchor Bay’s DVD, there’s plenty of promo materials, music extras, and deleted scenes that cover the film’s production.

Among the deleted materials is an extended interview with a specific blonde tween from the playground sequence. The kid was already a standout among his friends, and his longer and more candid replies to Yi’s fairly mature questions were retained in the deleted scenes gallery.

He’s oddly wise, suave, and often very thoughtful for his age, articulating answers even some adults wouldn’t pull off with such finesse. When asked to offer up some advice to someone wary of love, he opines “I would say take a minute and look at your life. Look at the person that you think likes you [and] find out for yourself.”

In ten years, this kid will have his own national talk show. Count on it.

Towards the soundtrack realm, I’ve also uploaded reviews for a pair of Rolfe Kent soundtracks released by Silva Screen Records: 17 Again, and Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (you know, the film where the poster art makes Matthew McConaughey and Jennifer Garner look like Photoshopped brass figurines).

Kent, recognized for his own brand of deft writing, is better know for penning the title theme for TV’s Dexter series, but his comedy scores are anything but generic. Check out the reviews to find out why these two are worth a listen.

- MRH