Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig and the voice talents of Seth Rogen
Running time: 104 minutes
There is a simple equation that explains how a comedy can develop a big laugh: a strong joke plus a strong delivery of that joke. When Simon Pegg and Nick Frost worked on Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, two genre pictures that worked overtime by simultaneously parodying genre pictures (zombie films and cheesy action flicks, respectively), the equation was repeatedly followed and executed well.
In their latest attempt to lampoon a beloved genre (this time it's Spielbergian sci-fi), they only get half of the equation right. The fantastic delivery is there, mainly due to the presence of a spectacularly eclectic comedy ensemble, but the jokes seem obvious and often cheaply caricature the shortcomings of American culture.
Paul's cast, which features Pegg and Frost, two from the Arrested Development cast, two from the Saturday Night Live gang, and Jane Lynch, however, make some pretty terrible jokes seem fresher than they should be.
Pegg and Frost are Graeme and Clive, two bona-fide geeks who travel to the United States to attend Comic-Con, and then venture on a subsequent road trip – on an RV, no less – to tour UFO hotspots (Roswell, Area 51). When they witness a car crash and investigate the aftermath, they find a four-foot alien with light olive skin named Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen).
Paul is on the lam after escaping from Area 51 and is trying to find his way back home. He hops onto Graeme and Clive's busted RV, but this journey is not smooth sailing.
Our favourite martian is being pursued by a trio of cops, two clueless (Bill Hader, Joe Lo Truglio) and one by the book (Jason Bateman, deadpan par excellence, as usual). Along the way, the trio bump into a fundamentalist Christian (Kristen Wiig) who believes in evolution and has a hard time explaining Paul’s existence.
Pegg and Frost served as Paul’s writers, and miss the easy attempts to lampoon comic-book geekery and fandom – maybe since they are nerds themselves. Or they were ill-advised to do so after their frequent collaborator, Edgar Wright, embraced that culture so affectionately with the cult hit, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
The duo do seem to have enjoyed stacking Paul with clever in-jokes for the most adamant fans of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, even though they do feel more accessible and less brazenly sly than from their earlier films. When the characters enter a saloon midway through the film, the band on stage is playing the El Cantina music from Star Wars, a pop-culture reference that pretty much winks at the audience to laugh accordingly. When Sigourney Weaver shows up, you’re just waiting for someone to quote her famous line from Aliens. Behold, they do.
Much of the comic intentions in Paul seem to miss the mark. Pegg and Frost are British outsiders poking fun at broad red-state stereotypes (you know, the one-note creations who love Jesus and hate homosexuals). This humour must come from the perception of writers who have watched one too many tasteless, American road-trip comedies and not from the perception of writers who have actually visited the United States.
However, there are a few bright spots in Paul that make the film more enduring, and at the top of that list is Paul himself. If E.T. was a laid-back, sweet-natured, pot-smoking, foul-mouthed take-one-for-the-team cynic, you’d have the character. The film should’ve been shown from his perspective as he tries to navigate through a foreign land, rather than from Graeme and Clive’s outsider perception.
The material cannot measure with the quick-witted, self-referential adoration of Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz since many of the comedy set-ups are too limp for the talents of this remarkable cast. Still, when you have so many actors with their feet firmly planted in lame tomfoolery, the jokes manage to work. Together, the ensemble makes Paul an amusing diversion, if not a very memorable one.
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