Review by Nick Kraz

If you like alien movies, you’ve got a couple of choices this weekend: Aliens as space invaders come to Earth to exterminate human existence (Battle: Los Angles) or an E.T. as a pop culture referencing regular Joe who smokes, curses and jokes about anal probes (Paul).

In Paul, Graeme Willy (Simon Pegg) and Clive Gollings (Nick Frost) are comic-book, sci-fi-alien-movie-loving British nerds who've made their first pilgrimage to America for Comic Con in San Diego and a road trip through famous UFO sites. If that sounds like a movie wet-dream to you as opposed to geekery overload than you'll probably love this film. There are enough LOL jokes (and a few clunkers) for both geeks and non-geeks alike, making Paul an uneven, but sometimes fun ride - that is, if you’re expectations aren’t so high (although it does help to actually get high before going in).

It should be noted that this is Pegg and Frost’s first collaboration as screenwriters, whereas their previous (more clever and original) efforts, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, were written with and directed by Edgar Wright. Greg Mottola (Adventureland, Superbad) is at the helm here.

On their trip through Area 51, the duo have a close encounter with a surprisingly down-to-Earth, CGI-created little green man named Paul voiced by everyone’s favorite pothead, Seth Rogen. The back story is that Paul crash-landed in 1947 and was captured by the U.S. government, spending the last 60 years locked away in a top-secret facility. Paul is on the run from the men-in-black and needs to get back to his home planet. Graeme and Clive coincidentally show up just in time to help out.

After establishing a set of running gags (gay jokes, anal-probe jokes, more anal-probe jokes), the trio set off on a bromance adventure through the Southwest trailed by incompetent FBI agents (played by under-utilized funnymen Jason Bateman, Bill Hader and Jo Lo Truglio) as well as a pair of redneck bullies and a gun-toting Christian fundamentalist.

The inclusion of SNL heavyweight Kristen Wiig as Ruth, a Christian trailer-park attendant kidnapped and quickly converted by the trio, helps to break up all the dork-fueled testosterone, but the love story with Graeme and religious jokes are forced and predictable. The running gags and self-referential charm begin to wear thin halfway through until the grand finale where the film takes a surprisingly daring shift in tone. The mix of comic and seriousness feels like a middle-finger to parents who may have taken their children to see that "funny-talking alien movie" without noticing the R rating. It does snap the audience back to attention even if it doesn’t fit with the amiable tone of the rest of the film.

In another “daring” scene, Paul smokes a joint by the campfire. "So do you partake?" he asks. "I'll partake!" Ruth replies. After a few hits, she cries out, "I have have wasps in my brain!" and conks out as Paul finishes the joint. "She'll be OK," he says. "That happened to me the first time too."

I wish they would've made Paul a total alien stoner instead of having him puff on cancer sticks throughout the entire film (wonder how much Big Tobacco paid them for that?).

With so much comedy potential in the premise, it would've been nice to see more signs of intelligent - or at least comedic - life in this film. With that said, Paul can still be enjoyable for those inside and outside of the joke - unless you're gay, redneck, Christian, even remotely religious, anti-pot, anti-tobacco or offended by swear words.

Watch the trailer here.

Nick Kraz also reviewed Enter the Void for CelebStoner

Also see:
Take Me Home Tonight Review
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