Paul

Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen (voice), Kristin Wiig, Jason Bateman, Jane Lynch, Sigourney Weaver, Bill Hader, Blythe Danner, Jeffrey Tambor, David Koechner
Directed by: Greg Motolla
Rating: R
Genre: Comedy, Adventure, Science Fiction
2011

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Two sci-fi geeks (Simon Pegg, Nick Frost) meet a runaway alien (Seth Rogen) in the middle of the desert.

Review:

Tim: Paul is a sci fi comedy that pays homage to many other movies, which inspired it. I am all for a movie doing this, but the movie takes it too far. Instead of emulating those movies, I wish this one would have set out on its own path. In the end, this is a decent comedy, but not much more than that.

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have made a number of films together- Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, now, Paul. While I like the pair, I always feel like their movies are funny, but fall short of their potential. That's true here. Pegg and Frost are fun to watch together- they are obviously close in real life, and their friendship shows up on screen. However, their movies together (despite containing moments of brilliance) always leave me just a bit disappointed.

Seth Rogen was a fantastic choice to do the voice of Paul. Rogen has such a fantastic, unique voice and was the perfect actor to bring the alien to life. I wouldn't have liked this movie as much if anyone else had done the voice. He really makes a huge positive impact on the film. Also, I was surprised by how much I liked Kristen Wiig here. I think she's incredibly annoying and not funny at all. I may have to rethink that, because she was very, very good here.

The supporting cast is decent. Jason Bateman is fine, although I still don't like him. Jane Lynch gives another overrated performance. Slight spoiler- Sigourney Weaver is fine, but in too small a role. I liked seeing Blythe Danner in the film, too. Overall, the cast is fine.

Paul features a fairly good story, although there's nothing unique or special in this film. It basically recycles a series of other science fiction plots. This makes the movie feel a bit redundant. I did like the characters, which were particularly strong and helped the movie immensely. Unfortunately, the story lets them down.

One of my big problems with this film is how it paid tribute to the sci fi movies it loves. It delivers a number of lines either directly from classic movies (like Aliens) or paraphrases them (like Back to the Future). I understand the desire to do this, but it was horribly distracting. Every line from a classic film reminded me of how incredible those movies were, and how far below them Paul ranks. This was a lazy move, and it made the entire movie feel like it was itself admitting it was not worthy to exist in that same stratosphere as those classics. I wanted this movie to give us its own classic, quotable lines, not to recycle dialogue from better movies.

Paul absolutely could have been a better movie. However, I have to admit that for a film with its flaws, it could have been significantly worse. The cast all do a good job of bringing some funny, interesting characters to life. There are some very funny scenes throughout the film. Seth Rogen is fantastic bringing Paul to life, and the special effects for the alien are very good. This is definitely a decent movie. I lament that it should have been better, but I do also marvel that it was as effective as it turned out to be. It's flawed, but I'd absolutely watch it again.



Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5


If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Pineapple Express, Superbad, Evolution