Time Out New York's Karina Longworth, on "Paper Heart":
Part documentary, part fiction and all cloying affectation, Paper Heart doesn’t seem to care about its subjects, whose insights are incredibly slight. As a scripted romance, it’s a nonstarter, thanks largely to Yi, a charisma-free black hole who continually sucks the whole endeavor down to the level of a nervous giggle.I saw this last night- just complete nonsense. Not funny, no insight whatsoever. The world's first mumblecore mockumentary- and no, that's not a compliment.
UPDATE:More from MSNBC's Alonso Duralde:
Unfortunately, Yi falls in love with Michael Cera, and while he’s a wonderfully talented actor, he’s thoroughly unconvincing as himself.Posted by Stephen Silver at August 5, 2009 04:25 PMThe moment that Cera first walks on-camera, the whole movie’s vibe changes — while everyone else actually seems like they’re in a documentary, his performance immediately reads as “guy pretending like he’s not acting but is actually appearing nonchalantly in a non-fiction film.”