Jason KingPaul (8/10)
April 13th 2011 21:58
:
Lots of Laughing Ensued
Category: Reviews
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) reunite for the comedy adventure Paul as two sci-fi geeks whose pilgrimage takes them to America's UFO heartland. While there, they accidentally meet an alien who brings them on an insane road trip that alters their universe forever. For the past 60 years, an alien named Paul (Seth Rogen) has been hanging out at a top-secret military base. For reasons unknown, the space-traveling smart ass decides to escape the compound and hop on the first vehicle out of town -- a rented RV containing Earthlings Graeme Willy (Pegg) and Clive Gollings (Frost). Chased by federal agents and the fanatical father of a young woman that they accidentally kidnap, Graeme and Clive hatch a fumbling escape plan to return Paul to his mother ship. And as two nerds struggle to help, one little green man might just take his fellow outcasts from misfits to intergalactic heroes. Paul is directed by Superbad's Greg Mottola, from a story by Pegg & Frost. Joining the comedy's cast are Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Blythe Danner, Joe Lo Truglio, John Carroll Lynch, David Koechner and Sigourney Weaver.
I loved this film - I haven't cried with laughter for years in a cinema - I mean really crying with laughter and falling about in "teenage girl" hysterics. And I am glad it eventually happened - for the first 20mins I was actually getting bored as it just wasn't that funny - there was no new jokes besides what I had seen in the trailer and I didn't find Nick Frost or Simon Pegg funny at all. But then enters Paul (or Seth Rogan playing a CGI alien) and the movie gets in gear and the hilarity ensures.
The film is nearly porn for virgin sci-fi geeks. It is non stop homage to all things sci-fi with constant references to the genre. There is even a real life Steven Spielberg on the phone and "the big guy" is Sigourney Weaver. You get to visit a lot of real life alien tourist spots and they have a lot of fun with this story. I am pretty sure no alien in existence would resemble Paul but god he made the movie fun. Without the Seth Rogen Paul this would have been B grade fodder.
As for Frost and Pegg I would say this is their second best film behind Shaun of the Dead. I honestly did not find them that funny. They are there to set up the story and allow Rogen to go crazy with Paul. I actually think this is Rogen's best work hahaha - OK - it is the film of his I have laughed in the most. He is just brilliant and I love the idea of a grundgie stoner alien.
Close behind Rogen I thought Kristen Wiig was bloody hysterical - mostly from her combinations of swear words when she learns it is ok to swear and she will not burn in hell for it. She is actually kidnapped and once Paul opens her mind to the universe and not the propaganda of religion she has been brought up with she kind of wants to experience everything straight away. This leads to one of the best stoned scenes I have ever seen on film - it is really short and most of it is in the Red Band trailer I included below but she went through every phase of being stoned in less than a minute - I nearly fell out of my chair I was laughing so hard.
There are a few other parts that deserve a mention. Jason Bateman is pretty standard as Agent Zoil and is pretty dead pan. His interactions with hysterical lower graded agents Haggard and O'Reilly (Bill Hader and Joe Lo Truglio) was added laughs. Haggard and O'Reilly would have to be the worst feds in history but they do have fun and they made me laugh
. As "The Big Guy" it was a weird role for Sigourney Weaver and it was pretty much a day's work for her - she is mainly the voice on the radio until the end of the film and it was great to see her in a comedy homage to sci-fi that provided the quote of the movie that had the entire cinema clapping. You can't do sci-fi without thinking of Ripley.
John Carroll Lynch as Moses also provides some added humour as the religious freaky father of Ruth who is like the Terminator in his inability to stop his pursuit of Ruth and the kidnappers. I think the character was very important in a film about aliens. There had to be someone there to represent the religious side of things. As far as religion is concerned aliens can't exist as we are the centre of the universe. Well that is the angle the film is taking. I can't see there being a problem with our GOD being the one who created our planet - surely each planet can have their own GOD. I am all for science that is for sure and as far as GOD is concerned I am already toasting at the toes on my way to hell. It is very appropriate having Paul and Ruth debate the merits of science versus religion.
Also a great small role was stoner Blythe Danner as Tara who as a young child saw Paul crash-land on the planet. She has been harassed her entire life for claiming she saw an Alien - she gets dragged back into Paul's story when he goes to apologise for crash-landing on her dog. Also a tiny but fun cameo from crazy lady Jane Lynch (from Glee) as the nutty diner chick who befriends them.
WILHELM SCREAM ALERT: As Agent Haggard is driving off the cliff when chasing the group.
The film is in good hands with its direction by Greg Mottola who directed Superbad, Adventureland and a few eps of Arrested Development. The film is VERY rude and crude with abundant swear words and made to offend people. I would not recommend this film to people unless they know what they are in for. I wouldn't suggest this one to the parents for example and forget about letting kids see it - save the kids for sci-fi Super 8 out later in the year or rehire E.T.
Paul starts this morning and if you want some hilarity of a crude nature and seeing a sci-fi loving film with a stoner alien and some geeks then this is your film. Worth an easy 8 out of 10.
I loved this film - I haven't cried with laughter for years in a cinema - I mean really crying with laughter and falling about in "teenage girl" hysterics. And I am glad it eventually happened - for the first 20mins I was actually getting bored as it just wasn't that funny - there was no new jokes besides what I had seen in the trailer and I didn't find Nick Frost or Simon Pegg funny at all. But then enters Paul (or Seth Rogan playing a CGI alien) and the movie gets in gear and the hilarity ensures.
The film is nearly porn for virgin sci-fi geeks. It is non stop homage to all things sci-fi with constant references to the genre. There is even a real life Steven Spielberg on the phone and "the big guy" is Sigourney Weaver. You get to visit a lot of real life alien tourist spots and they have a lot of fun with this story. I am pretty sure no alien in existence would resemble Paul but god he made the movie fun. Without the Seth Rogen Paul this would have been B grade fodder.
As for Frost and Pegg I would say this is their second best film behind Shaun of the Dead. I honestly did not find them that funny. They are there to set up the story and allow Rogen to go crazy with Paul. I actually think this is Rogen's best work hahaha - OK - it is the film of his I have laughed in the most. He is just brilliant and I love the idea of a grundgie stoner alien.
Close behind Rogen I thought Kristen Wiig was bloody hysterical - mostly from her combinations of swear words when she learns it is ok to swear and she will not burn in hell for it. She is actually kidnapped and once Paul opens her mind to the universe and not the propaganda of religion she has been brought up with she kind of wants to experience everything straight away. This leads to one of the best stoned scenes I have ever seen on film - it is really short and most of it is in the Red Band trailer I included below but she went through every phase of being stoned in less than a minute - I nearly fell out of my chair I was laughing so hard.
There are a few other parts that deserve a mention. Jason Bateman is pretty standard as Agent Zoil and is pretty dead pan. His interactions with hysterical lower graded agents Haggard and O'Reilly (Bill Hader and Joe Lo Truglio) was added laughs. Haggard and O'Reilly would have to be the worst feds in history but they do have fun and they made me laugh
. As "The Big Guy" it was a weird role for Sigourney Weaver and it was pretty much a day's work for her - she is mainly the voice on the radio until the end of the film and it was great to see her in a comedy homage to sci-fi that provided the quote of the movie that had the entire cinema clapping. You can't do sci-fi without thinking of Ripley.
John Carroll Lynch as Moses also provides some added humour as the religious freaky father of Ruth who is like the Terminator in his inability to stop his pursuit of Ruth and the kidnappers. I think the character was very important in a film about aliens. There had to be someone there to represent the religious side of things. As far as religion is concerned aliens can't exist as we are the centre of the universe. Well that is the angle the film is taking. I can't see there being a problem with our GOD being the one who created our planet - surely each planet can have their own GOD. I am all for science that is for sure and as far as GOD is concerned I am already toasting at the toes on my way to hell. It is very appropriate having Paul and Ruth debate the merits of science versus religion.
Also a great small role was stoner Blythe Danner as Tara who as a young child saw Paul crash-land on the planet. She has been harassed her entire life for claiming she saw an Alien - she gets dragged back into Paul's story when he goes to apologise for crash-landing on her dog
. Also a tiny but fun cameo from crazy lady Jane Lynch (from Glee) as the nutty diner chick who befriends them.
WILHELM SCREAM ALERT: As Agent Haggard is driving off the cliff when chasing the group.
The film is in good hands with its direction by Greg Mottola who directed Superbad, Adventureland and a few eps of Arrested Development. The film is VERY rude and crude with abundant swear words and made to offend people. I would not recommend this film to people unless they know what they are in for. I wouldn't suggest this one to the parents for example and forget about letting kids see it - save the kids for sci-fi Super 8 out later in the year or rehire E.T.
Paul starts this morning and if you want some hilarity of a crude nature and seeing a sci-fi loving film with a stoner alien and some geeks then this is your film. Worth an easy 8 out of 10.
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