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Paul (2011)

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Overall Rating 64%
Overall Rating
Ranked #714
...out of 20,202 movies
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Two sci-fi geeks take a pilgrimage to America's UFO heartland. While there, they accidentally meet an alien who brings them on an insane road trip that alters their universe forever. For the past 60 years, an alien named Paul has been hanging out at a top-secret military base. When he discovers he's been taken prisoner, the space-traveling smart ass decides to escape the compound and hop on the first vehicle out of town - a rented RV containing Earthlings Graeme Willy and Clive Gollings. Chased by federal agents and the fanatical father of a young woman that they accidentally kidnap, Graeme and Clive hatch a fumbling escape plan to return Paul to his mother ship. And as two nerds struggle to help, one little green man might just take his fellow outcasts from misfits to intergalactic heroes. --IMDb
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Review by Lucid Dreams
Added: September 17, 2011
Why do people constantly compare Shaun of the Dead to every movie with Simon Pegg? The man could be in a movie for five minutes and it would become utter crap with all the fan boys. I think it is safe to assume that there will not be a Shaun of the Dead part two, so why can't we just drop it and continue on? Simon Pegg surely has. Well, on to Paul now I suppose. I was pretty sure I was going to enjoy Paul because I have enjoyed Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's humor and the director, Greg Mottola, seems to have a nice list of projects under him. However, the thought of Seth Rogen as the alien irked me a little bit, but that is all in the past now, hakuna matata.

Graeme (Simon Pegg) and Clive (Nick Frost) are two British science fiction nerds who are best friends. They both travel to America to go to Comic-Con to meet many of the people who inspire them and to go along a road trip to view alien shot-spots. Along the way they come across an accident and find a real live alien named Paul (Rogen). Paul, it turns out, needs get off Earth before the government agents Zoil (Jason Bateman), Haggard (Bill Hader) and O'Reily (Joe Lo Truglio) take him back to harvest his brain. The fellas make a promise with Paul that they will take him to his meeting ground and along the way they come across a born-again Christian Bible thumper, Ruth (Kristen Wigg) and a whole lot of problems.

When it comes to the story I love it. It references so many things from past sci-fi movies and television shows having you believe that Paul is the sole reason that they even exist. I wouldn't worry if you aren't a huge sci-fi nerd because they stick mostly with the popular stuff. It is pretty cut and dry for the main plot, but there are some problems with some of the jokes. While I find Graeme and Clive to be hilarious together, sometimes Paul takes things a little too far. His jokes never really evolve from the one prior and it gets pretty boring at times. I wouldn't say this is a huge problem, but there were a few times I didn't find myself laughing because it had already been done enough.

With acting, like I said, Pegg and Frost are just a remarkable pair together. I swear when these two get on screen alone it is a laugh, but together they can do no wrong. Rogen as Paul seems really typical and I feel maybe that is why I wasn't laughing as much with some jokes. He plays a lazy, stoner alien and he usually always plays two of those in every damn movie he is in. I'm not saying I don't like Rogen, but I rolled my eyes a little when I found out he was Paul. Wigg as the bible thumper did pretty well overall and so did the three agents chasing them down. There was a nice cameo at the end, but I'm sure most movie nerds will recognize who it will be way before the ending.

Overall: I had a really good time watching this. I saw it in the theater and I watched it again at home, so I would say the replay value on this movie is pretty good. Granted, I think some work could have been done on this to make it better, but that would just be me nitpicking. If you enjoyed these guys before and you like the sci-fi genre, then I'm sure you will have a good time with this. 8/10.
BuryMeAlive #1: BuryMeAlive - added November 26, 2011 at 8:16pm
Major disappointment, especially when you know Pegg/Frost wrote the script. The character of Paul is not likeable and have him voiced by Seth Rogen doesn't help either.
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