Review: Paul

After the promise of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are back on top form with their "sci-fi-com" Paul, writes Mark Kinsella.

Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz solidly proved that Simon Pegg and Nick Frost know their comedy and they certainly know their genres which worked perfectly combined over the last decade ever since Spaced graced our TV screens.

Yet their other big screen ventures have been pretty unspectacular of late. Pegg has emerged reasonably remained unscathed from tedious minor roles in big franchises such as Star Trek and Mission: Impossible but the risible Burke & Hare and How to Lose Friends & Alienate People still hits a sore spot.

Unfortunately for Frost the less the said about The Boat That Rocked the better, luckily Paul, an energetic and surprisingly sweet “sci-fi-com” based on their own script proves Shaun and Hot Fuzz were no flukes. Here, they are more accessible than ever, especially to the American audience.

Graeme Willy (Pegg) and Clive Gollings (Frost) are two sci-fi nerds on a road-trip across America’s most famous UFO spots, while travelling outside Area 51 they run into fugitive alien Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen) and agree to harbour him in their RV. Along the way they accidently kidnap a trailer-park girl, Ruth (SNL’s Kristen Wiig) and concoct an escape plan to get Paul back to his home planet while being chased by a religious fanatic father, a special agent and two equally geeky FBI nitwits.

Fans of Shaun and Hot Fuzz may leave disappointed as this isn’t the final instalment of the guy’s so-called “Blood & Ice Cream” trilogy, it’s more of an audience friendly comedy than their previous work minus tongue-in-the-cheek gore and distinctively British feel – this is their most mature work to date.

That doesn’t mean it’s free of fart-gags and some very obvious gay jokes but character-wise Pegg and Frost create two charming protagonists that you instantly warm to. They’re geeks but not idiots, immature but heartfelt – they’re the little bit of geekiness that’s inside us all. Frost in particular impresses, he’s not the bumbling fool like PC Danny Butterman or Shaun’s Ed, - and instead here he’s a guy with big dreams of becoming a writer who provides the film with its number of poignant moments.

Spot-on

Its Edgar Wright-free script is sharply funny, with some spot-on one-liners and quirky supporting characters helped by ace cameos to relish in. Hellboy’s Jeffery Tambor provides the best laughs with his turn as egotistical sci-fi author, Adam Shadowchild. He’s so good in fact that you wish he had a bigger role; he would’ve been a perfect companion rather than Kristen Wiig’s Ruth.

Not saying that the SNL alumnus is bad, she is laboured with the scripts weakest joke - a running gag in which her character's inability to swear correctly begins to grate very quickly but recovers with a gut-busting scene in which her character smokes her first joint. Reno 911! star Joe Lo Truglio and Superbad’s Bill Hader are a hoot to watch while almost sidelining Jason Bateman as Special Agent Lorenzo Zoil – yes, a pretty lame Lorenzo’s Oil joke is thrown in for whoever actually went to see Lorenzo’s Oil.

Sigourney Weaver also dazzles in a cameo towards the end, as does Blythe Danner who delivers a perfectly timed “get away from her you bitch” Aliens reference.

But, what about the alien itself? Admittedly he’s no bar-raising piece of CGI but Paul is the star of the show. Seth Rogen provides the pitch-perfect voice-work while easily walking away with the films funniest moments as the sarcastic, impulsive alien who smokes the weed “that killed Dylan.”

Paul is a fully realised character, not just a plot device for Pegg and Frost to run amuck but he’s more socially aware and accepting than his newfound friends. Actually to think about it, when it comes down the climax he’s more humane than the humans.

Balance

Plot-wise, Paul doesn’t have much to offer but when the pacing is this good you don’t really care thanks mainly to director Greg Mottola who handles the balance between comedy and action with aplomb.

While Paul may lack the autobiographical feel of his more superior comedies, Superbad and Adventureland, Mottola succeeds in creating a love letter to Spielberg – especially a reference to Close Encounters at the beginning. Pegg, Frost and Mottola are huge fans and they’re not afraid to wallow in it. The references are so devoted that you wonder what else Mottola is capable of other than comedy, and providing Paul is a hit at the box-office you may see him attached to some broader projects in the future.

A perfect balance of side-splitting comedy, glorious science-fiction genre indulgence, and a good heart, Paul is a blast. It won’t alienate the Comic-Con crowds to which it so proudly pays homage to or those who are just looking for a good chuckle.

Pegg and Frost can we have more please?

Mark Kinsella

Paul opens in cinemas across Ireland on 14 February.