Two British comic-book geeks traveling across the U.S. encounter an alien outside Area 51.
Review
Simon Pegg. Nick Frost. Two names that have become synonymous with quality comedy.
Spaced, Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz, three products of immaculate, unadulterated excellence. Its just that there's a link in this chain which is missing from Paul and it really does affect the end product.
Edgar Wright was the director and co-writer of Spaced, Shaun and Fuzz along with Pegg and Frost and his input must have been critical to the success of them all because without him Paul fails to deliver on its high expectations.
On a paper this should be a sure fire hit and a geeks wet dream. In reality however its a rather limp offering, and boy does it pain me to say that. I love Pegg and Frost. I love their writing and acting style. I love the way that they seem to think like me, have a similar attitude towards comedy, but most of all I love how they seemed so grounded and just like normal blokes. Why they've dumbed down for Paul I have no idea.
The problem may well lie within the film itself. This is without doubt aimed at an american audience which, to a point, immediately limits Pegg and Frost's comedy style. I talked before about them relating to us, having that British mentality, but in Paul they become bland English stereotypes that any actor could easily play and seem happy for the rest of the cast to take the lead and steal all the best lines. Its almost like they tried to write what an American would write an English geek to be. Does that make sense? So because of this, the other cast members outshine our two leads which is such a shame.
Seth Rogen voices Paul and, well, does the Seth Rogen thing really. Curses alot, over-the-top crudeness and outspoken. Take his character in Knocked Up (before he meets Katherine Heigl) and transfer him to Paul and you have the same guy. But an alien. Obviously. Jason Bateman plays Agent Zoil who's out to catch Paul and plays the role with such a dry wit that you can't help but like him even though he's classed as 'the bad guy'. Zoil even gets the cool Star Wars lines which for me is sacrilege. When you have one of the biggest, most famous Star Wars fans in your movie, its Pegg who should get these. For me though, the best character, the one with the best lines, is Kristen Wiig's Ruth. A devout Christian who gets converted when her paths cross with our little green friend. She excels in the part and fits the role perfectly.
Maybe the script was meant to allow Pegg and Frost to play second fiddle to the other characters? As they were making quite a quintessential american road trip film maybe they thought that the American audience would relate more to the others than the two stars? It puzzles me because Shaun and Fuzz did really well overseas so not sure why they handed in a rather bland effort for their characters.
The strange thing is, despite these hangups I have with the film, I still rate it as a good movie and certainly one I'll watch again. I like the nods to other well known sci-fi films and there's a genius bit with Steven Spielberg but I miss Pegg and Frost's normal camaraderie and chemistry. I think it could have been so much more and would really like to know what influence Edgar Wright would have had on the final outcome if he were involved.
I'd be interested to know what others thought about this. Am I way off the mark and setting to high an expectation or did you also want to see more?
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