Review: Paul

I was lucky enough to attend an advance screening of Paul at Prince Charles Cinema in Leicester Square, held exclusively for people named Paul/Pauline/Paula etc and their friends. After a few pictures of Simon Pegg, Nick Frost and the whole audience wearing our Paul masks (which has now taken its scary place at the end of my bed) Pegg and Frost took to the stage, to roaring applause, to introduce the film and prove that even without working mics they are still funny. After a few jokes, and a few technical difficulties, they left us to watch the film and my worries that they were leaving because the film was rubbish was erased within seconds.

Chemistry is definitely not something that best friends Simon Pegg and Nick Frost lack. Journeying through their careers together, starting with Spaced and then moving onto the big-screen with Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz, they have never failed to impress; so why, in the lead up to Paul, have I felt so doubtful of it? It could be because their usual teammate Edgar Wright wasn’t involved, or because the trailers and advance clips have been decidedly underwhelming, or because the premise of two nerds befriending an alien on a road trip sounds like a banal children’s film; most probably, it was a combination of all three. Whatever my reason, they proved me wrong. It was always entertaining and provided constant laughter, as well as a round of applause at the end of the film (something I think should happen more often). 

The film follows two comic book nerds, Graeme (Pegg) and Clive (Frost), who decide to embark on a tour of reputed UFO crash sites on their way back from the San Diego Comic-Con. Along the way they pick up a small, foul-mouthed hitchhiker – an alien named Paul (Seth Rogen) – who has escaped from Area 51 and is looking to return to his home planet. They make their way cross-country to the pick up point, pursued by FBI agents, religious fundamentalists and crazed hillbillies. Pegg and Frost came up with the idea in 2003 while shooting Shaun Of The Dead, and while there are obvious similarities and comparisons, Paul is a very different film to its predecessors – undeniably broader, more commercial and sweeter. 

Unlike their previous double-acts, this time Nick Frost was not merely Simon Pegg’s sidekick. Pegg might have got the girl once again, but unlike with Ed and Shaun, Danny and Nicholas or Mike and Tim, they were equally major characters. There was hardly any conflict between them as this time they were both playing nice amiable blokes. While I did miss Frost’s usual antagonistic buffoon character, it was nice to see him play a lead character and maybe in future he will even get the girl? It will be interesting to see where they take their double act next, firstly in Spielberg’s Tintin and then in The World’s End, the third part in Wright/Pegg’s ‘Blood and Ice Cream’ trilogy. Only time will tell if the Pegg/Frost double act has the mileage to become one of the great screen double acts, but right now, they’re three for three and are definitely at the top of my list.  

The film has a distinctly 1980s feel, both through references to films like E.T, Aliens and Mac and Me and through the classical style and sensibilities of director Greg Mottola. This is clear within minutes, as the opening sequence plays as homage to Spielberg with a very Close Encounters-style sequence of a young girl and her dog witnessing the arrival of the spaceship in 1947. Then the ending, while obvious and cheesy and sometimes cringy, adds to this 1980s feel that we all know and love with it’s simple yet action-packed sequence interjected with one liners. 

The script was impressively tight and included all the best elements of Pegg’s previous scripts – the running gags, the wordplay and the film references. It included a brilliant supporting cast of Jason Bateman, Kristen Wiig, David Koechner, Bill Hader, Jane Lynch, Sigourney Weaver and Jeffrey Tambor, and it was a pleasure to see a comedy actually giving them funny things to say, rather than saving all the best gags for the lead characters. After my initial doubts while watching the trailer, Seth Rogen’s voice worked brilliantly as Paul, and the impressively emotive CGI and good writing made this character worthy of the title name.

It is not in the same league as Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz. The film references aren’t as sharply implemented, the character development is distinctly shallower, and the jokes, that in the previous films get funnier with every viewing, are more obvious. But on a purely laugh-by-laugh basis, it’s easily the equal of the ‘Blood and Ice Cream’ series. The phrase laugh-a-minute is often used, yet rarely appropriate, but I’d certainly say it’s applicable in the case of Paul. From the moment our heroes walk on screen accompanied by a couple of orcs from Lord Of The Rings, to the nicely understated final line that undercuts the action-packed finale, there were at least 5 laughs a minute from everyone in the audience. 

Paul is one of the funniest comedies to hit the cinema in a while, with an enviable gag:hit ratio, great performances and some surprisingly great FX work.

The trailer might suck but trust me, the film is good!