Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogan as the voice of Paul, Sigourney Weaver playing the 'Big Guy' and even the infamous Jane Lynch (Sue Sylvester from Glee) playing a bar waitress/manager; they all have a part to play in Greg Mottola’s Paul (2011) rated 15.
The same connection between Simon Pegg and Nick Frost can be seen again in Paul. The sort of bromance that makes you laugh and sometimes want to cry, in a good way. They have managed to keep this same partnership throughout most of the movies they have made and are one of the best double-acts at the moment.
So Paul…the pot smoking, drinking, swearing alien who got his name from landing on a dog (Paul was also the name of the dog he landed on), grabs your attention from the start and this is easily one of the funniest sci-fi comedies in a long time.
Graeme Willy (Pegg) and Clive Gollings (Frost) set off across America going to different comic conventions and visiting all the major UFO landmarks for example Area 51 and The Black Mailbox. Along their travels they run into an extra-terrestrial, Paul who is running from something or someone. After they set off they begin to be hunted by the the 'Big Guy', rednecks whose car they trashed; by accident of course, twice, and a Christian father searching for his daughter; who they kidnapped, by accident. She seems to have an awakening when Paul heals her unfixable eye, she then speaks profanities and gropes Graeme whilst realising what she had been missing being a devout Christian. There are many different subplots in Paul including unconscious conformity, anti-Judeo Christian rhetoric and the many powers Paul possesses such as invisibility and healing powers. These subplots of the film are only important at certain events within the film and are used cleverly.
Paul’s personality is great they managed to turn him into a relatable character with the same bad taste in humour and vices of a human, which is great. I mean how alien can an alien really be? Is it not possible that they are mentally just like us?Mottola tries to bring back the traditional classic road movie with a twist and he succeeded in directing a great comedy with gags in all the right places. This movie loves using conspiracy theories against the human race; for example:
Graeme Willy: You are an alien!
Paul: To you I am, yes.
Graeme Willy: Are you gonna probe us?
Paul: Why does everyone always assume that? What am I doing? Harvesting farts? How much can I learn from an ass?
Paul then uses this conspiracy to his advantage when scaring off the rednecks. He sticks up his finger and says:
Paul: Hey ****nuts! Probing time.
This is a genuinely funny, geek-friendly movie with loads of in-jokes chucked in. This is the comedy to see at the minute and I would recommend it to everyone.
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