Paul
For their first excursion on the big-screen sans their “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz” director Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have chosen to tell a story of loving homage to not just the fanboys that make up their audience but the films that have shaped our culture for the past 30-plus years. With Wright out of the director’s chair, Pegg and Frost have turned to Greg Mottola, who has found his own success with “Superbad” and “Adventureland.” Admittedly, it’s not exactly a match made in heaven; Mottola is not as tuned in to Pegg and Frost’s comic rhythms as Wright, but I’d rather see these talents swing and miss than I would not see them making films at all.
Pegg and Frost are Graeme and Clive, British best friends who have made the nerd pilgrimage to San Diego for Comic Con. Clive and Graeme have geek blood in their veins: Clive is a sci-fi writer, and Graeme is his artist friend. While at Comic Con they take the chance to meet their hero (Jeffrey Tambor), which will be the least interesting thing to happen to them as they rent an RV and travel the American midwest’s iconic UFO “hot spots.” It’s not long into their trip when they encounter an escaped alien named Paul (voiced by Seth Rogan), who is on the lam from the government after being held for 60 years.
Comedy is the most truly subjective art form in modern culture and, yes, you read correctly: Comedy is an “art form,” and what a wonderful art it is! It’s capable of brightening a person’s day simply by that basic human need to laugh. If you think about it, I’m not sure that there are any two people who share an identical sense of humor. Yes, they may share similar styles of humor, but I’m willing to bet that there are some subtle differences that will make things difficult at times. (“What do you mean you think ‘Blue Collar Comedy Tour: The Movie’ is better than ‘Best in Show?!'” for example.)
“Paul” is one of those films that points out such subtleties. In structure, it’s very much a parody of geek culture with references to sci-fi icons of the past that will alternately make one laugh with glee or cringe at how lame the jokes get (confession: I did more of the former). In style however, “Paul” is very much in keeping with the dry genre satire of “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz,” as Graeme and Clive face down the silliness of their predicaments with the same straight-faced seriousness Pegg and Frost showed effortlessly in those other two films, making me even more curious to see what they have done for Steven Spielberg (who has a funny, unseen cameo here) in their upcoming roles for his mo-cap film, “The Adventures of Tin-Tin.”
In “Paul,” Mottola basically let’s Pegg and Frost do their thing, while populating the film with performers like Kristen Wiig (as an evangelical RV park woman who will get an education in the world when she meets Paul); Jason Bateman (as a spook hot on Paul’s trailer after Graeme and Clive pick him up); Bill Hader (as a government agent on a “need to know” basis and frustrated about that); Blythe Danner (who makes up for her appearance in “Little Fockers” as a sweet older woman with a history with Paul); and of course, Seth Rogan as [the voice of] Paul, who is basically playing the same character he always does, just as an alien this time. Mottola doesn’t ask any of these actors to stretch their acting or comedy muscles (though I’d love for Wiig to be remembered come Golden Globe time at least), nor does he try to put his own stamp on this material. Basically, he just steps out of the way and lets his over-qualified cast do what they do. The result is not always comedy gold, but it does give the viewer some laughs along the way– some “comedies” can’t even do that. But that’s just me.
