The Case for an Alien Road Trip

I had perhaps a bit too much expectation heading into Paul. I mean, I loved Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz with a passion, and as this movie was touted as being in the same vein, a crazy set of madcap adventures of two British geeks who stumble across an extraterrestrial called Paul who wants to phone home. The ads certainly gave the impression it would be a lot of fun. But I think "madcap" in the USA is a very different kettle of fish (or should that be hats?) from the insanity that the aforementioned British movies unleashed.



That's starting this review on a bit of a downer, but from there, I hope to come back up a bit. Paul is an amusing comedy starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and it's a credit to these two that this film is as watchable as it is. They actually do seem to be two ordinary guys, best mates, who love their geeky indulgences and would side with an alien against the dreaded Men in Black. Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig (why do I love her so? Because she is awesome) and a very quick cameo from the always incredible Jane Lynch (I bow down in her dry witted presence) provide good support to these two, and there are a few other worthy cameos (is that Landry from Friday Night Lights playing a redneck ruffian? Wow) and enough pop-culture/sci-fi references to keep the more knowing members of the audience chuckling while the less geeky wonder what is so amusing.

But part of the problem with the film is that, for the most time, it is not really that funny. Sweet? Yes. Entertaining? Yes. Full of sly references and "in jokes"? Definitely (the bar scene band's tune seemed to pass most people by; and the Big Bad...). Slow? Well, yes. Funny? Intermittently.

It might have been that, seeing this film at the Embassy cinema with their luxurious leather seats (and still decent "standard" seats too), everyone was so comfortably seated that the audience was more inclined to rest and relax then get excited by the antics on screen. It might have been that the incredibly frenetic and almost unintelligible (and completely unintriguing) trailer for a Bollywood film that preceded the feature left most of the audience in a catatonic state for the following two hours. It could be that aliens had drugged the audience so that they could conduct their dastardly rectal experiments while we hypnotically watched what was on the screen before us. But I doubt it (well, maybe not the last one).

It's really just not that funny. The aforementioned rednecks are introduced for no real reason and play a completely redundant role that would be fine in a Cannonball Run movie, but add nothing - and perhaps even subtract - from this film. But a big part of the reason is the alien, Paul, himself. While I like Seth Rogan, his stoner alien dude is very much. him - besides the alien part (I think). In other words, it is the same character that he always plays, and (for me) that kind of attitude does not instil a huge amount of sympathy with the character. For the most part, it seems like Paul is meant to be funny because Paul is crude and swears. A lot. And that's it.

Actually, the script seems to make the assumption that anytime anyone swears, that is hilarious. It works in one or two instances, but it tires really quickly when there is nothing much else on offer. There were some classics in there: I definitely want a creationist "Evolve This!" t-shirt portraying Jesus shooting Darwin in the head (now to find one.), and there are several other jokes that had me chuckling (mostly in joke-y ones). But otherwise, I just sat, entertained but unmoved.

There is a lot right with the film, but for me, the individual bits of rightness did not come together to make a memorable movie. Galaxy Quest from a few years ago scored mostly hits with its collection of clichés; Paul seems to miss the mark on most occasions. Perhaps extraterrestrials had more to do with the script than I realised, and their sense of humour is vastly different to my own. Or perhaps I just didn't "get" it. Either way, Paul ended up as a bit of a disappointment - though perhaps that is my own fault for going in with expectations of being amused.

Verdict: Paul is a slow, pleasant road trip across extraterrestrial yet familiar territory. There are the odd speed bumps of humour that lift one out of one's seat every so often, but mostly it's a fairly easy cruise with the burbling of meaningless cursing emanating from the stereo. 6 aliens on board out of 10.