Cinema Verdict Review: Paul

Paul

OPENING: 03/18/2011

STUDIO: Universal Pictures

RUN TIME: 104 min

ACCOMPLICES:
Trailer, Official Site

The Charge
Fugitive, celebrity, slacker, joker, alien.

Opening Statement
After delighting moviegoers with the wildly entertaining one-two punch of Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have re-teamed for the similarly satirical sci-fi comedy Paul. Alas, the film proves a huge step down for the duo.

Facts of the Case
Graham (Pegg) and Clive (Frost) are two English buddies on holiday in the United States. After enjoying a few days at the San Diego Comic-Con, the pair plans to hit the road in their RV and check out the locations of famous “alien sightings.” Though both men believe quite strongly in the existence of aliens, they’re nonetheless startled to actually encounter one in real life.

The alien’s name is Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen, Knocked Up), and he looks like a stereotypical amalgam of every Hollywood alien you’ve ever seen. That’s largely due to the fact that Paul has been around since the 1940s, and those who have glimpsed him have incorporated elements of his features into various aspects of pop culture. Paul’s assimilated a good deal of pop culture himself, frequently referencing his favorite movies and music (not to mention smoking, drinking and swearing like a space sailor).

After an awkward “getting to know you” period, Graham and Clive agree to allow Paul to accompany them on their journey. Along the way, they encounter a bible-thumping redneck (John Carroll Lynch, Zodiac), a non-bible thumping redneck (David Koechner, The Office), a timid creationist (Kristen Wiig, Saturday Night Live), some bumbling federal agents (including Bill Hader, Superbad and Jason Bateman, Arrested Development), a respected sci-fi writer (Jeffrey Tambor, Hellboy) a powerful bureaucrat (Sigourney Weaver, Alien), a friendly waitress (Jane Lynch, Glee) and others.

The Evidence
If nothing else, Paul serves as a sharp demonstration of just how gifted writer/director Edgar Wright is. Though Wright had nothing to do with the film, it’s clear that the seemingly unstoppable team of Pegg and Frost is reduced considerably without Wright at the helm. The infectious energy and ferocious wit of Wright’s Pegg n’ Frost films are gone, replaced with a good deal of aimless raunchiness, clumsy gags and sloppy storytelling.

Still, Paul seems like it ought to be a lot of fun. In addition to a screenplay written by Pegg and Frost, the film is helmed by Greg Motolla (who gave us the entertaining Superbad and the surprisingly moving Adventureland) and boasts a large cast of very funny people. There are so many things about Paul that probably looked great on paper which simply don’t add up to much in the film.

During some scenes, Paul feels like a movie that never really got past the conceptual stage. The notion of a comedy about an alien who has influenced every element of alien pop culture in recent decades is a potential comedic goldmine, but Paul is content to make some obvious Spielberg references and leave it at that. For that matter, most of the movie’s sci-fi references tend to be pretty obvious (when the guys enter a bar, the band is playing a country & western version of the Cantina music from Star Wars). The film desperately wants to be regarded as a hip celebration of geek culture, but its insistence on being so inclusive prevents that. Being aware of famous moments in Star Wars, E.T. and Star Trek hardly qualifies one as a nerd.

Another idea that probably looked great on paper: creating a comedy about two frightened Brits enduring the horrors of America. Paul presents us as a nation of right-wing, idiotic, tobacco-chewing, gun-loving, power-hungry religious zealots. Which, uh, is fair enough, I guess. There’s fun to be had in looking at the less savory parts of America through the eyes of outsiders, but all of the American characters are presented as such simplistic, one-note cartoons that the whole joke loses its steam very quickly. The film isn’t as much a skewering of American culture as it is a story made up by someone who heard about America from a friend of a friend a few years ago. Alas, we’re a million miles from the delightful sting of In the Loop.

Perhaps the biggest problem is that the central characters just aren’t that interesting. Pegg and Frost aren’t interacting with each other so much as they are with the CGI alien, and they have a tough time generating genuine chemistry with him. Speaking of which, choosing Seth Rogen to voice the title character was a bad idea. Rogen’s cinematic persona is so well-established at this point that we know pretty much everything about Paul within a few minutes of meeting him, and Rogen’s distinctive bark becomes grating rather quickly. I think Rogen is a talented guy, but we either need a break from him for a while or he needs to try tackling more projects that push him out of his comfort zone.

The supporting cast is loaded with talented folks, and we smile when we see most of them appear. Unfortunately, too many of them aren’t given anything to do–Jane Lynch, John Carroll Lynch and Sigourney Weaver in particular are completely wasted. Kristen Wiig has fun playing a character who transforms from timid Christian to foul-mouthed rebel, but after a while she’s forced to repeat the same joke over and over again (she’s new to swearing, so she uses foul language in a variety of unusual ways). Only Bill Hader manages to both receive a decent character and find a way to keep that character interesting for the duration of his screen time.

When the film arrives at its warm and gooey final reel, the effect is rather strange: the “character development” up to this point has been so thin and cartoonish that the movie’s attempt at sincerity feels like a joke. To watch these scenes and feel nothing is to realize just how ineffective Paul is at achieving what it seemingly set out to accomplish.

Closing Statement
In fairness, it should be noted that there are a handful of laughs to be had, along with a handful of genuinely clever sight gags and throwaway lines. Still, these moments only come along just often enough to remind us how much better this could have been had the screenplay been through another draft or two (or three or four). Here’s hoping Pegg and Frost are back in fine form their next time around.

The Verdict
5/10