Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are clever and endearing fellows. So one could easily expect the British duo of the zombie comedy “Shaun of the Dead” and the cop buddy riff “Hot Fuzz” to make their alien-meets-lads comedy “Paul” an out-of-this-world ride. Alas, it is not to be. There are chuckles, even some deep guffaws, as sci-fi guys and comic book creators Clive Gollings and Graeme Wily hook up with a real alien by the name of, well, you know.
| On screen |
| ‘Paul’ |
| Two and a half stars out of four |
| Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogan (voice) |
| Director: Greg Mottola |
| Rated: R for language, including sexual references, and some drug use |
| Running time: 104 minutes |
But in the end — as well as the middle and maybe even at the outset — “Paul” is more often a close encounter of the middling kind.
Seth Rogen provides the wisecracking voice of the green pint-size alien with the huge blue eyes. Paul crashed in America’s desert Southwest in 1947. Since then, he’s been the guest of a clandestine government operation.
One thing is clear from Rogen’s turn: As Paul schooled his hosts, he also picked up the kind of crass habits that require an R rating.
Too often “Paul” — penned by Pegg and Frost — unfolds like one long string of inside jokes. Of course, a huge portion of the audience will be in on the gags. After all, pop culture’s material on alien-human interaction is vast.
There’s “Star Trek,” “Star Wars,” plenty of nods to Steven Spielberg. That hardly begins the list. In a winking moment, a country-western band plays a familiar ditty in a bar full of rough characters.
Wide-eyed and chattering, Clive and Graeme begin their first jaunt to the U.S. at the fan-driven confab known as Comic-Con. France may always have the rarefied Cannes film festival in May. But one weekend in July belongs to the hoardes who descend on San Diego for the ever-growing annual event.
Off a darkened stretch of two-lane black top, they meet Paul. “They come in peace and we go to pieces,” quipped Clive earlier. Guess who’s not ready for the role of rescuer?
Paul makes a break for it, sensing his usefulness has come to an end. He’s pursued by Agent Zoil (Jason Bateman). The determined G-man takes his orders from an unseen hardcase whose voice provides yet another pleased-with-itself nudge. The chase is on. A first contact will lead to deeper bonding.
