Skip to main content
Close

Paul: E.T. Phones Homage

By Jim Rohner · March 21, 2011

Hey, everybody – the team that brought you Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz are back with their next film!  Well, kind of.  At the very least, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who co-wrote and starred in those films respectively, are back with their next film.  The mention of such fantastic films will undoubtedly elicit certain expectations from an audience, but in order to achieve maximum enjoyment of Paul, viewers would do well to temper visions of a third installment in the fantastic Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy.

Obviously, missing from the Three Flavours Coronetto equation is visionary director and British compatriot Edgar Wright, whose co-writing duty has been transferred over to Nick Frost and whose directing duty has been bestowed upon Apatow alum Greg Mottola. Both of these substitutions would signal bad news were Paul attempting to be The World's End (the announced final piece of the aforementioned trilogy), but seeing as Paul is trying to be its own film – and I might add, a different film from those already mentioned – Frost and Mottola's contributions serve to make Paul a pretty good, if not great, comedy.

From "Spaced" through to Hot Fuzz, the projects involving Pegg and Frost have always been funny and touching, but have also been littered with in-jokes that add layers of enjoyment to those that, like the British pair, have been weaned on mass media and pop culture. Paul is no exception. The film begins at the Mecca of nerd-dom, San Diego Comic-Con, where aspiring comic artist, Graeme Willy (Pegg, with ridiculous long hair), and his aspiring comic writer best friend, Clive Gollings (Frost, with even more ridiculous long hair), are kicking off their cross-country tour of UFO hot spots. 

Somewhere around the Black Mailbox (look it up) the pair witnesses a car accident.  The car, seemingly unoccupied, was actually being piloted by Paul (Seth Rogen), a regular alien in that his physical appearance matches that of a standard grey (look it up), but irregular with how his language (vulgar), attitude (smartass), and appetite (beer and weed) match that of, well, Seth Rogen.  As it turns out, keeping an escaped alien a secret is much harder than it seems, and soon enough the trio are being pursued by hard ass Federal Agent Zoil (Jason Bateman), his oblivious underlings Haggard (Bill Hader) and O'Reilly (Joe Lo Truglio), and bible-thumper Moses Buggs (John Carroll Lynch), who believes Paul to be a demon that has kidnapped his daughter, Ruth (Kristen Wiig).

On top of that veritable who's who of comic names, Paul also features cameos from Jane Lynch, David Koechner, and Jeffrey Tambor among others. On many occasions the motley cast actually steals a lot of thunder from Pegg, Frost, and Rogen, who are typically the highlights of their respective films. That's not necessarily a bad thing, because not only is the supporting cast infinitely entertaining, but a lot of the banter between the main three is weak, relying on jokes about anal probing and Paul being naked a lot. That sort of stuff is funny in its own right, but more for initial laughs and not so much the intelligent, verbal play kind of comedy that holds up on repeat viewings. 

On the flip side, Paul shows off what Pegg and Frost have come to be known for in how seamlessly they're able to homage and reference past sci-fi films in a way that enhances the story rather than distracts from it. From Paul's craving for Reese's Pieces to a backwater bar band playing the Star Wars Cantina theme to the climax at the foot of Devils Tower National Monument, Paul is one gigantic wink at sci-fi fans who have grown up with and love the films that Pegg and Frost have grown up with and love. Never distracting and amazingly frequent, these winks, though perhaps a bit too insider-y, are added bonuses to those who understand them and who may have raised their eyebrows at the film's not so subtle scientific message or the relatively negligible character development. 

Still, whether or not you clap with glee at the declaration of "get away from her, you bitch" or howl with laughter from the mention ofMac and Me, there's enough left over to have a good time. Pop culture references aside, Pegg and Frost have also always been sure to imbue their work and performances with enough sentiment to appeal to those who don't proudly declare themselves to be nerds (or those who have yet to come out of the nerd closet). If the humor doesn't appeal to you, then the heart will.