Paul (2011)
Certified: 16
Duration: 104 minutes
Directed by: Greg Mottola
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig
KRS release
Duo Simon Pegg and Nick Frost return after their cult hits Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz (2007). Shaun of the Dead had made us laugh at zombies and Hot Fuzz at the cop genre. With Paul, it is time to laugh at ET and all the films that the Steven Spielberg classic has inspired. However, the cigarette-smoking Paul is a much more relaxed alien and is more interested in beer and partying.
The film’s opening sequence is set in 1947 and details the origins of Paul. A dog named Paul is crushed underneath a spaceship that was making a landing. An alien (voiced by Seth Rogen) is pulled out by the girl who was the owner of the dog and names it Paul like her dog but he is taken away by the government. Now 60 years later he escapes from Area 51.
The film introduces us to Graeme Willy (Simon Pegg) and Clive Gollings (Nick Frost), two English comic-book geeks. They are on a trip to the US to attend a comic-book convention and visit sites connected with extraterrestrials.
After an incident with some hunters the two escape in their RV, but on their way they crash into a car which is driven by Paul who is on the run. Graeme immediately accepts to help the alien but Clive is not so convinced.
Their journey turns out to be a wacky one indeed. Along for the ride there is Ruth (Kristen Wiig), a fanatical Christian, while secret agents are on their tail. Meanwhile Paul wants to go see the girl whose dog had been crushed under the spaceship all those years before. And Ruth’s father is also running after them.
Mr Frost and Mr Pegg have their act pegged down to the last minute. Their timing and buddy feel is spot on as the two feed on each other’s comic sense. The film pays homage to some of the genre’s best alien visitation films: some of the references include Aliens, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The script marks the first collaboration between Mr Frost and Mr Pegg and they approach it with a hit-and-miss attitude. They fill the script with all kinds of jokes, aimed to leave the audience breathless. In Kristen Wiig, the film has quite an unusual love interest. She is a talented comedienne who has already shown her comedic streak on Saturday Night Live. With her role as a Christian fundamentalist who is finally given the chance to enjoy life, she will have you smiling all the way to the bank. Meanwhile, Sigourney Weaver, herself a veteran of the classic Alien franchise and star of the recent Avatar, is quite a hoot. As voiced by Seth Rogen, the little grey alien Paul is a slacker ET, one who seems to have escaped from the sci-fi version of a Judd Apatow movie.
The resulting picture can be enjoyed by a general audience and appreciated by the sci-fi crowd.
The cheeky and irreverent film will make you leave the cinema with a feel-good attitude.