2nd August 2011

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Paul [2011- Gregg Mottola, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost]

Love him or hate him, Simon Pegg films are generally hit and miss. In fact, whilst I find all of his output entertaining in some aspect (yes, even Run Fat Boy Run managed to fill a couple of hours of my time), the only ones that manage to become truly enjoyable are his appearances alongside his best friend Nick Frost. Admittedly thats only two films (one one 2 season TV series, which was in my opinion, they’re finest moment), but it shows that the chemistry between the two shouldn’t really be ignored, so it stands to reason the only Simon Pegg films I’ve seen on more than one occassion are Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.

However, there’s also a common link between those two films that goes beyond the relationship between Pegg and Frost, and that is the inclusion of script writer and director Edgar Wright. It just so happens that Wright is missing from this particular outing of Britains favourite Dorky Duo, so without his guiding hand, how do they do?

As things get rolling, Paul is exactly what you expecting from Simon Frost Productions (not an actual company, but guys, if you read this and want to set it up, I’m happy to be handed some shares, see also Nick Pegg Studio’s), its literally dripping geekisms, especially as proceedings begin at the huge convention that is Comic-Con (anyone reading this who doesn’t know what Comic-Con is really ought to be dragged to the top of a block of flats, forced to wear spandex and then given the opportunity to see if humans can achieve flight without mechanical devices, or something, I don’t know. Maybe thats going too far, a simple hyperlink should suffice I assume). So, yes, unsurprisingly Pegg and Frost play a couple of geeks and they’re pretty obsessed with Extra Terrestrial related stuff. In fact, so obsessed are they that they decide to take a trip across the US to see such sites as the Black Mailbox and hopefully Area 51 itself.

Along the way they witness a car crash at highspeed, and upon investigating the incident they discover an Alien that goes by the name of Paul (and voiced by Seth Rogan). This is where the film begins to pick up and becomes entertaining rather than a cringeworthy attempt to portray UFO obsessed idiots, now I’m not saying those who believe are idiots, just the characters in the film are generally idiotic. In fact, so idiotic are they I never really grew to like either Graeme (Pegg) or Clive (Frost), even as the relationship between the key characters developed. Mostly because they just came across as rather greasy (not aesthetically, although Clive did seem to have a few hygiene problems) and like Frost and Pegg had literally had a checklist for everything they felt would make them look like sadder geeks (under the presumption that they could be “cool” geeks, if indeed there is such a thing). I also think there was no balancing to their characters, something Wright could have brought to the table if he’d have been involved.

On the other hand, Paul was nicely rounded off, he offered many different personality aspects in various different situations and provided some genuinely entertaining moments (my favourites being those that included some roadkill and then later an FBI agent in a shop without wanting to spoil things too much), Seth Rogan’s performance was full of effort and whilst it was hard to escape Paul’s voice being Seth’s it never really got in the way of the “acting” of the on-screen CGI alien, which is something that can all too easily happen with anything animated (Kirsten Dunst’s voice over of Kiki’s Delivery Service puts me off that film altogether). Another stellar and amusing performance came from Kristen Wiig as Pegg’s love interest, god-fearer and eventually potty-mouthed Ruth Buggs, the girl who pretty much as her mind-blown and life changed by the games titular character.

As before with Non-Wright Pegg outings, the films entertaining enough to waste a couple of hours, but it doesn’t really hold upto repear viewings, there’s a few nice touches for nerdy types to pick up on (the red neck bar playing the Cafeteria music from Star Wars being my personal favourite), but it feels like fan service more than anything. The film needed a stronger guiding hand than director Gregg Mottola appears to have offered, purely because, (and much like Superbad and Adventureland) it feels like they’ve gone through a checklist of nerd stereotypes that they have to include in order to convince somebody to actually see the film.

Tagged: paulfilm-realreviewsimon peggnick frostseth rogangregg mottola2011comedy