What if aliens existed? And what if instead of being discovered by dark-suited government agents (
Men in Black
) or adorable moppets (
E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
), one of these aliens was picked up by two dyed-in-the-wool, "I Want To Believe," British science fiction nerds traveling from San Diego Comic-Con to Roswell, New Mexico on the geekiest roadtrip of all-time? Welcome to the world of
Paul, a film that celebrates its nerd cred while satirizing the genre it so obviously adores. The road tripping nerds are Clive Gollings, a middling science fiction writer played by Nick Frost, and Graeme Willy, the illustrator of Clives' books, played by Simon Pegg. BFFs in real life and in the film, Pegg & Frost also wrote the film, which plays both as a genuine expression of love of cinema and science fiction, and as a natural extension of the duo's on-screen chemistry and comedic interplay.
Pegg & Frost are probably best known for starring in two comedies by director Edgar Wright (
Shaun of the Dead
and
Hot Fuzz
). Both films were aggressive genre mash-ups (of zombie and action flicks, respectively), characterized by Wright's hyperkinetic visual style, break-neck editing, and jam-packed pop culture wit.
Paul's director is Greg Mottola, whose comedies,
Superbad
and
Adventureland
, underscored the bittersweet undercurrent of adolescent friendships and romances. Like Mottola's previous work,
Paul is much more concerned with relationships and personal development than it is in visual inventiveness.
Graeme and Clive are taking a very personal journey: America is the seat of American pop culture, which they regard in semi-religious esteem, and their RV tour of the Southwest is something of a spiritual pilgrimage (as much as it can be for avowed atheists). When the two men meet Paul, the only surviving alien of a 60-year old UFO crash (voiced by Seth Rogen), Graeme and Clive must confront proof of the beliefs they'd previously held but never actually considered could be proven. (Imagine a Christian meeting Jesus on Earth.) Complicating matters of faith vs. science (or science fiction), the pair also encounters Ruth (Kristen Wiig), a woman kept repressed and naive by her religiously devout father (John Carrol Lynch). Ruth begins to question her faith after meeting Paul, whose very existence seems to contradict her entire worldview. Chasing Paul and all of his new friends are some classic sci-fi baddies: Jason Bateman as a stern, impersonal government operative and Sigourney Weaver (queen of all science fiction movies) as his shadowy superior, known only as The Big Guy.
The most surprising aspect of the film is the successful integration of Paul, a CG alien that actually achieves a modicum of humanity. Truthfully, I mostly forgot the title character was animated at all. Most films attempt to dazzle with their visual effects, but Paul wisely went the other way: the alien's design doesn't mesmerize, but it also doesn't distract. The CGI never looks bad and it never looks great; it just looks, well, normal. Rogen's casting is an odd one, but the combination of his voice minus his physical presence actually works better than most comedies starring the "real" Seth Rogen. Paul is an alien with extraordinary extraterrestrial knowledge and abilities, but during his time on Earth, he's adapted to become a normal guy. The character's design is playfully familiar (it's a crucial plot point that Paul, all gray skin and big eyes, looks so recognizably alien so as not to freak out any humans who may encounter him). But the no-frills visual effects serve the larger purpose of teasing out Paul's innate humanism, the joie de vivre and laidback self-confidence he inspires in the film's human characters.
