Directed by:
Greg MottolaCinematography:
Lawrence SherComposer:
David ArnoldCast:
Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Jason Bateman, Bill Hader, Jane Lynch, Jeffrey Tambor, Blythe Danner, David Koechner, Jesse Plemons (more)VOD (5)
Plots(1)
Two geeky Brits, Graeme Willy (Simon Pegg) and Clive Gollings (Nick Frost), are driving across the United States in a hired van to a comic book convention in San Diego. As they pass by Area 51, a military base known for multiple UFO sightings, they accidentally pick up an alien, Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen), and before long their quiet road trip has turned into an intergalactic adventure. (Universal Pictures UK)
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Reviews (11)
Relaxing entertainment with the nicest alien this year. Paul, with a perfect voice-over by Seth Rogen, excellently complements the good old Simon Pegg and Nick Frost duo. The movie is packed with references to every movie possible (Spielberg’s voice cameo is faultless) from Star Wars to Spiderman and back again. An excellent atmosphere, full of effing and blinding in the unrated version, is maintained throughout the movie and, during the ending, when things end up exactly the way you expected, you sigh with emotion, these movies simply have a heart. - Paul? - Yeah. It’s a nickname, it stuck. My ship landed... on a dog. That’s OK.
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I honestly like the work of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost a lot. It's a slightly different kind of humor that, when done well and tastefully (and that's really true in this case), usually works brilliantly. Another very ill-matched (or well-matched?) pair of protagonists who live in their own worlds, yearn for an alien encounter, and their collisions with the real world usually end in disaster. The cadence of jokes and gags may not be as killer this time around as in, say, Hot Fuzz, but it's richly balanced by the laid-back atmosphere that oozes from the entire film, and I actually liked the slight pathos at the end quite a bit.
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The trailers gave me the impression that it would be some kind of childish and embarrassingly vulgar nonsense, but I like science fiction and I gave Paul a chance, even though I was almost sure I would bury it later. And lo and behold! It’s pretty funny. A nice wisecracking comedy that as a bonus sticks its tongue out to Christianity several times. I had fun. 75 %
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Unfortunately, I was expecting something a little different from Paul than the end result. I like the films with Pegg and Frost mainly because of their dry English humour, which was totally missing here. I think that if the third of the famous trio, Edgar Wright, had been put in charge of directing, the potential of the film would have been much better used. In fact, in the film, this duo only play second fiddle, because if anyone is pulling it off, it's the stoned alien Paul himself. His digital rendering and all his grimaces are absolutely flawless. The humour itself was not so accomplished, although there were some hints parodying well-known science fiction, but most of it was classically American humour. This is one of the reasons why the British actors did not have a chance to make a significant impact. Setting aside my expectations, I still got an above average comedy, but one that had for a lot more than that.
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I was really looking forward to seeing Paul and my expectations were fulfilled in the form of a brisk, incredibly funny and at the same time enormously naughty film that manages to perfectly combine elements of comedy and sci-fi with some good references to other films. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are very good and the cameos by Jane Lynch and Sigourney Weaver are a delight. In short, a fresh and funny film that will definitely not be lost among the representatives of its genre.
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Gallery (72)
Photo © The Weinstein Company
![Paul - Lobby Cards](http://image.pmgstatic.com/cache/resized/w663/files/images/film/photos/160/804/160804133_7b17b4.jpg)
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