bryan says... Nick Frost and Simon Pegg have never disappointed us - from Shaun of the Dead to Hot Fuzz - they've successfully taken genres that we thought we knew like the back of our hand, and turned that upside down. And they do it with the finesse of a drunken trucker with a bucket of red paint. Did that analogy make sense to anyone?
For the first time, they cast a romantic interest in a widely-known American star, Kristen Wiig. She's obviously not a huge name, but you can't talk about the funny ladies of Hollywood without bringing her up (see my Easy A review here). Her character is absolutely ridiculous, and often makes you question throughout the film if they are actually going to keep speaking to her - let alone have one of the male leads fall in love with her. But the romantic subplot pulls through, despite the character's oddities (or is it in addition to these?). Seth Rogan voices the title character with perfection. It's almost unnerving hearing a voice we all attribute to the chubby guy in Knocked Up coming out of a tiny, pretty adorable little alien man. This makes ever curse word and racial slur even more hilarious. The plot is a total throwback to alien/adventure movies of the 1980's, and the addition of Jason Bateman and Sigourney Weaver as two agents trying to track down Paul and the others through out the film is a fun surprise. It's almost as if Paul and Super 8 were built on the same framework, but went in completely different directions with their creative teams. Paul is a great time to be had, and I'm especially excited about the announcement of an upcoming sequel - listen to this one - Pauls. How brilliant is that? I give Paul 3.5 movie stubs. | emily says... After watching the trailer for PAUL, I vowed that I would NEVER see that movie. It looked like a bad comedic version of E.T. with unattractive British men instead of cute little kids. However, Bryan assured me that NICK FROST and SIMON PEGG had penned and starred in a comedic masterpiece in SHAUN OF THE DEAD and, since he was so confident in the film, I tagged along for the viewing.
For once, I am happy to say that he was right. The film was a unique tale that followed the nerdy FROST and PEGG on their tour of American extraterrestrial hotspots after attending the Comic-Con convention. When they accidentally stumble across PAUL, an alien trying to outrun the government and get home, hilarity ensues. FROST and PEGG both give great performances, capitalizing on their...less than hunky looks and embracing the geeks within them. PAUL, voiced by SETH ROGAN, is much like a sarcastic frat boy (or E.T. in college)--encouraging the two dorks to let loose, and is, therefore, a fun (though sometimes annoyingly over the top) addition to the cast. The show-stealer, though, was KRISTIN WIIG as an ultra-conservative Christian the trio picks up along the way. Her total commitment to portraying her character's intensity was a joy to watch--and definitely generated the most laughs. The script by FROST and PEGG was riddled with that dry British humor and stayed strong right up until the end. There, it failed a little as it tried to find the right balance between a cheesy ending and a comedic one. Overall, though, the film was a fun joy-ride with a lovable cast of characters. I give PAUL 3 movie stubs. |