Reviewed by Lamar Kukuk
5/3/10
Some guys are actors, some
guys are writers who act: Simon Pegg, who gained fame in the US as
the writer/star of Shawn of the Dead, has certainly been an endearing
part of the ensembles in JJ Abrams movies, but his leading man potential
has only ever been well used by himself, as the writer of movies like Hot
Fuzz, Run Fatboy Run and now Paul.
While not approaching the mad genius of his collaborations with Edgar Wright,
Paul shares with Fatboy a talent for taking a solid high
concept and working it with relentless crowd-pleasing efficiency.
Long-time collaborator Nick Frost once again co-stars and also takes over
co-writing duties, while director Greg Mottola does a nice job walking
an eclectic and talented cast through the paces of their familiar but still-delightful
script. Of course, I'm the built-in target audience for the tale
of two Comic Con attendees who find themselves on the run with an alien
fugitive from Area 51: if you're any kind of geek, this foul-mouthed
riff on the old Amblin archetypes (complete with Steven Spielberg cameo)
should be right up your alley too.
Graeme Willy (Simon Pegg)
and Clive Gollings (Nick Frost) are English sci-fi fans on a pilgrimage
to the United States. First, they hit San Diego Comic Con, where
they are barely tolerated by their literary hero Adam Shadowchild (Jeffrey
Tambor), then it's off to a tour of UFO hotspots. After a stop at
the mysterious Black Mailbox, they pull their RV to the side of the road
and are flagged down by a little green man who emerges from the desert.
Turns out Paul (voice of Seth Rogan) is on the run from Area 51 and needs
their help to get to a secret destination. Graeme's all-in on the
adventure, while Clive resents a third wheel, even one as amazing as Paul.
He gets still more competition for his friend's affections when they're
forced to take a hostage at an RV camp: Paul's existence completely
destroys the worldview of die-hard Christian Ruth Buggs (Kristin Wiig),
and she begins a campaign of really mild debauchery like kissing Graeme
and saying curse words. On the orders of The Big Guy (Sigourney Weaver),
Agent Zoil (Jason Bateman) is in hot pursuit, aided by the considerably
less competent Haggard (Bill Hader) and O'Reilly (Joe Lo Truglio).
The chase is on, and The Big Guy's not gonna rest until Paul is on an Area
51 dissection table.
On the basis of that pitch,
you could probably sit down and outline Paul's plot pretty successfully
on your own, but it's the way Pegg and Frost sketch out the small moments
that makes it such an enjoyable journey no matter how predictable the destination.
A bit where the tourists “disguise” Paul as a tiny cowboy to blend in is
an absolute hoot, and John Carroll Lynch steals several scenes as Ruth's
father, who's as violent as he is religious while on her trail. On
this side of the Atlantic, audiences will be a tad surprised by how casually
atheistic the proceedings are (British pop culture, particularly its sci-fi,
seems to stipulate to the absence of a higher power just as casually as
its American counterpart always assumes its presence), and Ruth's faithless
rampage of liberation delivers some of the movie's biggest laughs.
There is at least one genuine surprise in the climax, which is executed
with the kind of clockwork precision Spielberg would have demanded in his
many considerably less naughty tellings of similar tales back in the day.
The writers also play their
goofy characters for all they're worth while also giving them real, believable
depth as people. Wiig is probably the best actor in this generation
of Saturday Night Live performers, and takes another step here away
from sketch comedy toward real movie stardom. Bateman is surprisingly
effective as a ruthless government agent, and Rogan adds another excellent
vocal performance to a resume that's actually a lot more impressive than
the one he's built up on-camera. Weaver lives large in a role that
mostly calls on her to be genre royalty (which, of course, she is), and
Blythe Danner has a wonderful little role in the third act as the grown-up
version of the girl who discovered Paul when his ship first crashed.
Director Greg Mottola, famous
for doing Superbad after a career spent in TV (including episodes
of Tambor and Bateman's Arrested Development) keeps the tone nicely
perched between sentimental and mocking, rowdy and heartfelt. And
the special effects team comes up with an excellent fusion of motion capture,
CGI and puppetry to bring Paul himself to life: it's amazing how
willing we are in this modern FX era to just accept that an alien is hanging
out in the middle of the frame in an otherwise normal-looking comedy.
Paul should entertain anyone who'd consider going to San Diego Comic-Con,
as well as fans of its starts, who have once again put themselves right
in their own wheelhouses with an excellently crafted screenplay.
Now if only other writers could write for Simon Pegg the way he writes
for himself, he'd be a genuine movie star, as opposed to that annoying
guy from How to Lose Friends
and Alienate People. |
