Paper hearts burn easy

This sentimentalish mocku-docu-mentary about love, or one woman's disbelief in it, has moments, but on balance just never gets going. Charlyne Yi, a young comedian, doesn't believe in love. She doesn't really go into why, except that it's never really worked for her. Her friend Jake proposes to document a series of interviews in which she searches for "love" as other people have experienced it. These interviews are quirky and at times more than just cute. If this would have continued to be the centre of the film, with some editing and focus, they might have had something (Just keep it under 90 minutes please!).

However, along the way Charlyne bumps into Michael Cera at, what appears to be, an "everyday" party in LA. Charlyne claims to not really like him that first time, but you and I know immediately that this is going to turn into something. Why else would Cera be listed on the bill? Well it's not a complete bait and switch, but it's a disingenuous premise nontheless. Once Cera's on-screen, we're really only interested in the scenes that he's in, which isn't nearly all of them. Overall there are some funny exchanges between him and Charlyne, but really it feels like a high end, self-indulgent, extended YouTube video.

If this is supposed to be some sort of postmodern piece that is semi-critical of modern romance, and/or ambiguous about the "set-up" of acting and filming, and/or the intrusion of the camera into everyday life, well some might be interested. Not me. Of course love at first sight is possible, but unlikely. Of course everything we watch on screen is a set-up - it's "theatre" (thhhhee-Ah-TAh). Of course you can't have an intimate relationship with the camera's rolling 24/7. What kind of naivete does it take to even consider this as possible? Every celebrity marriage fails. There are celebrities who have lasting marriages, but that's always when one of them isn't continually in the media eye. So Charlyne, if you'd really loved Michael, you'd have stopped shooting the film, and done what you needed to do. As it is, you tried for both - a good film and some lovin' - and got neither. Hopefully, while doing it, you learned that you can't multi-task and do both things very well. Especially falling in love and making a film.

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