PAUL

PAUL (2011)
UK/US
Directed by Greg Mottola

CAST:
Simon Pegg - Greame Willy
Nick Frost - Clive Gollings
Seth Rogen- Paul (voice)

PLOT:
     Two British comic-book geeks traveling across the U.S. encounter an alien outside Area 51.

REVIEW:
   

     I must say I'm surprised. I said in a earlier review that Seth Rogen doesn't understand that being excited doesn't mean yelling. Well, he proved me wrong in Paul. He actually is learning how to act from what I can tell in this movie. Even though it's just his voice, you can tell he put emotions into his role which have been missing from his other films.  Plus, he's really likable in his role as Paul as he plays it more laid back and with a wisdom I haven't seen in any of his previous roles.

     Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are always good together as they play so well off of each other, that no matter what they're in I'd probably watch it. If you've seen Shaun Of The Dead or Hot Fuzz that should be enough to tell you about them in this. Jason Bateman is fun to watch as the no nonsense Agent Zoil who is always one step behind the protagonists almost the whole movie as no matter what he's outsmarted at every turn. Kristen Wigg's Ruth Buggs as well is fun to watch as the religious nut who gets her eyes open in more ways than one thanks to Paul, who happens to have a indulging love for cussing, including some I've never heard put together before, but was good for a laugh as well. Yet the film could have done more with the religious sub-plot they started with her. Here's a warning though, if you're really religious stay away.

       I will admit that the first 15 minutes of this movie had me kinda scared due to that it just moved very slowly setting up Frost and Pegg's characters as well as their run-in with rednecks, which the whole scene just seemed a little more forced than what is usual in their movies. Thankfully it picks up after Paul is introduced and doesn't slow down really after that. I would like to have seen more of Paul past, as he says himself in the movie that a lot of the pop culture from the 80's came from him. There's one scene in particular that had me laugh and remember my childhood at the same time as Paul is talking to a famous person (yes, that is his actual voice you are hearing) while sitting in a undisclosed warehouse filled with crates that stretches for what seems like miles. It's scenes like this that are pure gold in this movie, and there are plenty of them. I won't go into those scenes cause I feel if I do it would ruin the surprises that the movie holds.

     The best way I could really describe this film is it's a love letter to 80's movies. There are so many cool parts that come out of nowhere that you can't help but to laugh with what happens on screen. While it's been said that the movie is raunchy, the fact is it's not as bad as what was being said about it. While some of the movie is predictable, it doesn't tarnish the film in any way. What the movie has though is a heart and plenty of it. While Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz is a send up of movies more than anything else, this feels like a "Thank you" to past filmmakers.  If anyone fell in love with the movies from the 80's, you should go and see Paul as it's fun and enjoyable.

BEST DEATH:
     Sigourney Weaver's compressing close encounter of the third kind!

BEST LINE:
     See. I told you you'd recognize it when you saw it!

FUN FACTS:
     Seth Rogen had to get help from Andy Serkis on how to work with a motion capture suit.

     Due to scheduling conflicts though, Joe Lo Truglio,  who also plays O'Reilly in the film, took on the part. He studied Rogen extensively in order to impersonate his voice, performed on his knees to capture Paul's physical presence and even improvised in character as Paul.

     The movie was written by both Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.