Paul Reviews

The ad campaign for PAUL has wittily informed us that this film was directed by "the earthling who brought you SUPERBAD," Greg Mottola. Of course, since PAUL is largely a comedy, there won't be a single ad that'll allude to the director's more recent cinematic offering, the amazingly delightful ADVENTURELAND, because studio heads won't want you to think "No way, man, I'm not gonna go see a movie that's supposed to be funny and then isn't." Much to my huge chagrin, ADVENTURELAND was sold as a comedy, which led the mainstream audience to say "Meh" and move on after seeing it, leaving the rest of us who want unconventional and emotionally-intelligent dramas as the only people who could appreciate it. The good news is that the ads for PAUL aren't as misleading. Because it's a comedy, it makes sense to identify it as being from the director of SUPERBAD. The big question I had before watching PAUL, though, was whether Mottola would do what I begged him to do a little over a year ago. When I compiled my top 10 list for 2009 and cited ADVENTURELAND for its endearing nature and for catering to those of us who prefer movies that are more heartfelt and honest, I made reference to something Mottola said in the audio commentary for the film: "I didn't want this film to be 'cool'. This is for the 'uncool' people. We need something, too." After quoting that, I begged Mottola to continue that approach and not let studio heads tweak his films in order to satisfy mainstream audiences instead. So, has Mottola continued his goal of satisfying us "uncool" people with his most recent film? Sort of. The movie is decidedly aimed at sci-fi geeks, but the humor is broad enough that it'll satisfy others who won't get all of the dozens upon dozens of references to certain films and TV shows. The result is a film that's worth seeing, despite not reaching the level of comedic brilliance of SUPERBAD nor the dramatic greatness of ADVENTURELAND.

Clive (Nick Frost) and Graeme (Simon Pegg) are a pair of British guys who have just arrived in the U.S., and they basically pee their pants as soon as they arrive at Comic-con, which is the first part of their trip. The second part of their trip consists of visiting places where aliens have supposedly been seen. But the "supposedly" in that sentence becomes an unnecessary caveat, because Clive and Graeme soon have, um, an encounter... with Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen), who looks exactly like every picture of an alien you've ever seen (we're later told why he does). The apparently defenseless creature is being tracked down by government agents, and begs the two guys to let him tag along in their RV, so that he can hide with them. The trio is eventually joined by the ultra-religious Ruth (Kristen Wiig) who initially thinks Paul is a demon.

Road trip hilarity ensues, mostly because, despite being an alien, the title character expresses himself like a regular human - and by that, I mean that he curses a lot, has fits of anger and makes raunchy sexual references. This is where we see the difference between what could've been a lame and uninspired PG-13 film, and the hard R we get here. The irreverent humor spewed by Paul is constantly good, and occasionally great. One of the biggest compliments I can give PAUL is that, despite having its share of obscure references that only some will notice, it has its share of broad ones that I'm sure 98% of people will get. In a conversation between the two villains who are tracking Paul down (Jason Bateman and Sigourney Weaver, both terrific in this movie), one of them worriedly says "The little fucker might've phoned home!" It's hard to imagine anyone not recognizing that or finding it funny. The film even quotes a line from TITANIC at one point, so it's not like its satirical focus is 100% set on the genre it so obviously reveres. Oh, and there's an instance in which we get to see a picture of a former president of the U.S., and the comment written on the picture is one heck of a delightful political jab. I was laughing at it even during the scene that came right after it.

Nick Frost and Simon Pegg clearly relish playing their geek selves here, and I think it's easy to have almost as much fun watching them as they probably did playing the two roles. Seth Rogen is enormously effective voicing the title character: it's interesting because, though you're constantly aware of the fact that it's his voice, it doesn't feel distracting in the least bit. It adds to the comedic feel. Jason Bateman makes for a terrific villain (and the film does have an interesting twist involving his character). Bill Hader is back to playing an inept cop as only he can do it, and the result is often hilarious. Kristen Wiig shows that she should stick to playing awkward characters who say inappropriate things every 2 seconds. During her first few scenes in the film, she plays a hard-nosed Christian, and she feels miscast at it, but as soon as her character makes a drastic transformation, she's back to being as funny as she's always been in comedic supporting roles.

Why can't PAUL measure up to Mottola's prior two offerings? Despite having its moments of sweetness and its moments of raunchy hilarity, the film does occasionally devolve into unnecessary physical humor. Take, for instance, a scene in which two characters are having the classic "God vs. Darwin" argument. The scene would be great if it weren't preceded by a moment of foul bathroom humor that serves no purpose whatsoever. It's like getting to eat something delicious after you just ate something that tasted awful - it's hard to enjoy it fully if you've still got an awful taste left in there. But that's not my biggest quibble, because the film actually features something that's even more unnecessary. I'm all for outrageous/inappropriate humor, but there's a scene that makes a joke at the expense of the documentary CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS (my all-time favorite documentary), and the reference is simply awful. It makes little sense, and even worse, it's touching on subject matter that simply shouldn't be made the butt of a joke. It's like making a joke out of a scene from SCHINDLER'S LIST or THE WAR ZONE. My third problem with the movie is that, as great as it is to see Sigourney Weaver in the film (for obvious reasons that become even better when the line "Get away from her, you bitch!" is delivered), her appearance in the film's final moments as the big, bad villain is curiously unsatisfying. She gets dispatched too easily - we should've gotten to enjoy much more of her exploits as the film's chief "bad guy" and to see her wreak much more havoc than what we get to see.

Still, PAUL holds up really well, thanks in large part to how incredibly amusing the title character's irreverence is. This is the classic case of a movie in which you could've just had its four characters exchange witty banter with each other on the RV for the entire running time, without being chased by police or government agents, and I would've still had a fun time. That's as much a testament to Frost and Pegg's sharp script as it is to Mottola's continued success at mixing sweetness with offensive humor. PAUL may not be as refined a film as his two prior outings, but the fact that he's clearly still interested in catering to us "uncool" people is more than enough to make me look forward to his future projects.

Good, cinematic entertainment? You can count on it. A good, fresh comedy? Far from it. Paul is full of forced jokes, based on unnecessary vulgar language and ridiculous, hasty set ups. On top of this, the visual gags are pointed out by the characters because they assume the audiences are too stupid to pick up on it themselves. For example, as seen in the trailer, Paul is dressed as a cowboy to go undercover on the highstreet. Pegg's straight-man to Frost's usual bumbling comic character states 'We are just a normal family, walking through the street, with a cowboy'. This exposition is pointless. We don't need a fucking commentary. Take Airplane!, for example. One of the best sight-gag based films of all time, each joke is dished out one by one, with no dodgy artificial flavours thrown in from the film-makers. It would appear that Pegg and Frost feel that certain images are not funny enough on there own, resulting in Pegg's unoriginally named character Graeme Willy irritatingly stating the obvious. This is made worse by the fact he apparently mutters it to himself. Such a transparent technique is laughably amateurish and one should expect better because Pegg and Frost are a genuniely talented duo.

The most soul-crushing thing of all is the horribly annoying character of Ruth. One of modern day filmic stock characters, she is the typical outcast young girl who finds herself coming out of her shell. Catharsis and all that bullshit, done in the most cliched way possible. Ruth begins her entry into the real world with unfortunate anti-Christian jibes from Pegg, Frost and Paul (Seth Rogen mis-cast). They are seemingly stating that any person of faith is a fool and they use a gross strereotype to enforce this unsubtle prejudice. If it was subtle, I wouldn't have minded. Unfortunately, it is not. Granted, it can be assumed that it is Creationism that is being mocked here and not Christianity as a whole, satirising the general ignorance still held by several American people. However, due to the sudden onslaught, momentarily disrupting the tone of what is supposed to be a feel-good action-comedy, it appears far more vile and agressive than perhaps it needed to be.

Some hit and miss sci-fi references are fun to spot but they don't really go anywhere and the ending is so contrived and rushed, the pace of the film is diminished. Paul is fun but not entirely funny, although there are some moments that survive based on Pegg and Frost's unbeatable chemistry. Clever aspects do suffice, including a mixture of self-deprecation and self-celebration of British heritage and culture, being that this is written by two Brits. It nails American perceptions of Britain and British perceptions of America without becoming too cliched or insulting. As an Englishman, it was particularly fun to see that such moments were maintained in a film set across the pond.

The drawbacks of the film are incredibly noticable and such perceptions can be seen in the trailer alone. However, as far as entertainment goes, the heart was mostly in the right place. Pegg and Frost clearly put a lot of soul into the concept and the effort doesn't go un-noticed. It's just unfortunate that better care wasn't taken to iron out the script and to straighten up the often sloppy plot.

Expectations were exceedingly high for this one not only because it stars two of my favourite British actors and that the film is their creation but also because Paul really does seem like one of those films that will deliver entertainment at the finest standard and that is exactly what it did! I thought it was entertaining through the first second until the last and it made me laugh all the way through. It was quite moving on some occasions which did surprise me a bit. However, there was one minor fault that I think Paul has is that after that ending, we don't know what happens afterwards; unless Pegg and Frost wanted to make the viewers question what next.


I guess one could say that Paul perhaps would receive negative criticism for an alien who acts like a person but I am going to say this nice and clear: it is called story-telling and there are a lot of segments in Paul where we take a little trip down memory lane. Where it does this is we are easily reminded of the heart melting magic of E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial and the visual magic of Close Encounters Of The Third Kind so it is roughly enough a love note towards Steven Spielberg. Well, that is what the actors and makers have suggested it is anyway.


Paul tells the story of two sci-fi geeks whose pilgrimage takes them to America's UFO heartland. While there, they accidentally meet an alien who brings them on an insane road trip that alters their universe forever. For the past 60 years, an alien named Paul (voice of Seth Rogen) has been hanging out at a top-secret military base. For reasons unknown, the space-travelling smart ass decides to escape the compound and hop on the first vehicle out of town-a rented RV containing Earthlings Graeme Willy (Pegg) and Clive Gollings (Frost). Chased by federal agents and the fanatical father of a young woman that they accidentally kidnap, Graeme and Clive hatch a fumbling escape plan to return Paul to his mother ship. And as two nerds struggle to help, one little green man might just take his fellow outcasts from misfits to intergalactic heroes.


My favourite British duo return for the third time now after the two hilarious comedies Hot Fuzz and Shaun Of The Dead but go somewhere slightly different this time; not only because there is no Edgar Wright as director but also Paul is in fact Pegg and Frost's own creation. It is rather extraordinary how they both came up with the idea but really good as well: during the filming of Shaun Of The Dead when they were under shelter from the rain. Simon Pegg always seems to amaze me and is definitely one of the best British living actors if not ever and he proves that once again with a solid performance as Paul. His role as Graeme Willy is a kind of role that is a first time for him and he did a fantastic job! Nick Frost cracked me up in Shaun Of The Dead and especially in Hot Fuzz but guess what? He did almost the same thing again in Paul. After these three films, we now see that Pegg and Frost can be alongside each other in a film playing different kinds of characters that are part of the comedy genre. You know, now thinking about it while reviewing the film, I am surprised that Simon Pegg and Nick Frost haven't portrayed a pair of geeks beforehand. What I love about the duo is that whenever they are in a film together, they either come up with an idea during a random time or they steal what they have experienced and put it into a film (Shaun Of The Dead for example). Seth Rogen was great as the voice of Paul. Paul really is a typical Seth Rogen character, really, because he is that foul-mouthed, cocky but at the same time rather kind-hearted and damn hilarious alien which is exactly what Seth is like in his films (except that he isn't an alien). I really liked Jason Bateman in this one too and the short appearance of Sigourney Weaver too.


No Edgar Wright in a Pegg-Frost film? Wasn't too sure it'd work but after watching Paul, I think it really worked very well. This was directed by Greg Mottola who also directed teen comedy Superbad and comedy-drama Adventureland and it really did make me think a lot about both of those films. As far as Mottola's career is concerned, I think that Paul perhaps became a breakthrough for him because he not only knows now how to make a comedy but he could in the future make a film that is rather enchanting like this one and that would be another breakthrough for him too. I am not too keen on Superbad but now Paul has made up for that now. I thought the script was brilliantly handled especially when it all began in extraordinary and random circumstances (how the idea of the film began, that is; not the script of the film began like that). Anyway, Pegg is a great writer anyway but he works really well writing scripts with Nick Frost now as well as with Edgar Wright like they worked on the screenplays for Hot Fuzz and Shaun Of The Dead.


Overall, Paul is an absolutely brilliant sci-fi comedy that I loved from start to finish. Hilarious, surprisingly moving and a very enchanting experience that I think should be checked out by everybody. I do prefer both Hot Fuzz and Shaun Of The Dead but I still think it is awesome! It is one of the best films of 2011 so far for me.

I wasn't expecting to like this, but it's actually really, really, really, good. The first act feels really insubstantial, but it's all set up for what happens next. Lots of call backs, lots of echoing of jokes, one really funny running gag. Seth Rogen is the MVP of the film, he just brings a charm and personality to the role which really helps sell the film. Pegg and Frost are great but they kind of switch roles here, with Pegg being the dimmer, more amiable, of the two. Pegg doesn't really have much to do in the film and even though he get's a bunch of screen time it never particularly leads to anything. It's definitely more of an ensemble piece, in fact the stands out for me were probably Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader. Wiig is just consistently hilarious as the romantic lead in the film, whilst Bill Hader gets probably my favourite line in the entire film.

The third act is the strongest, although I think people might have an issue with how compressed and actiony it gets. The entire film up until that point is setup for the last twenty minutes and to me they work like gang busters. It's consistently funny and surprisingly well set up, considering it's an extended action sequence at the tail end of a fairly amiable comedy.

I think geek audiences might get more out of the film than others, but also might be harder on the film than others. It really wears it's references and influences on its sleeves and there are a ton of references to the work of Steven Spielberg and sci-fi films in general.