Paul

Director: Greg Mottola
Writers: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost
Released: March 2011
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Blythe Danner, John Carroll, Lynch Sigourney, Weaver Seth Rogen
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From the director of Superbad, and the creators of Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead, comes Paul.

A story about a laid-back alien called Paul (Seth Rogan) who is on the run from the government across the States before getting picked up by a couple of geeky tourists, Graeme (Simon Pegg) and Clive (Nick Frost). Graeme and Clive attended Comic-Con before travelling to various locations where UFOs have been sighted in an RV, until they get a closer encounter than they expected!

A concept that was thought-up on the set of Shaun of the Dead, but was not to be a part of the ‘Cornetto Trilogy’ with Edgar Wright. Looking into it, Pegg and Frost decided on an American director instead of their usual collaborator to keep an American tone.

Paul is a fun film, but can become a bit of a drag to watch because it feels like a never-ending chase without enough funny moments along the way to sustain your attention.

It’s an epic road trip film, which is entertaining enough with it being neither hilarious or a total write-off. Because of the writers’ previous epics – Hot Fuzz in particular – I was expecting a faster-paced script with cooler moments. But I guess the humour was tailored for an American audience.

Nevertheless, Pegg and Frost are brilliant writers and the casting was great. Seth Rogan was a good choice to be the voice of the CGI alien, whose attitude is severely laid-back, even in the most stressful of situations.

The cast is quite large for a relatively simple storyline, and I wonder how many of the characters were necessary.

 

Paul is essentially a love letter to the science-fiction genre, and Steven Spielberg in particular whose voice makes a guest appearance over the phone in one scene. So if you’re a science-fiction fan, you’ll probably enjoy this more than the Cornetto Trilogy fans would.

Jodie’s rating: 5/10