Pegg and Frost pair up for another successful buddy film
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are quite a combination when it comes
to writing and acting in clever movies. The two created
”
Shaun of the Dead,
”
a tongue-in-cheek look at zombie movies and
”
Hot Fuzz,
”
which gave the same treatment to the buddy cop movie.
The pair has done it again in a combination road trip/alien
movie with their latest collaboration
”
Paul.
”
The movie is directed by Greg Mottola, who gave the pair the
latitude to do what they do best as wacky best friends who fit
together perfectly.
Pegg and Frost pair up for another successful buddy film
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are quite a combination when it comes to writing and acting in clever movies. The two created “Shaun of the Dead,” a tongue-in-cheek look at zombie movies and “Hot Fuzz,” which gave the same treatment to the buddy cop movie.
The pair has done it again in a combination road trip/alien movie with their latest collaboration “Paul.” The movie is directed by Greg Mottola, who gave the pair the latitude to do what they do best as wacky best friends who fit together perfectly.
Clive Gollings (Nick Frost) is a science fiction writer and Graeme Willy (Simon Pegg) is an illustrator. Gollings has one published “book” to his name, a graphic novel that Graeme designed. The two are in heaven when they attend ComicCon, an annual gathering of all things nerdy in San Diego. They meet their favorite author Adam Shadowchild (Jeffrey Tambor,) who is less than enthusiastic to meet his fans.
Since the two are from England, they’ve planned a road trip to all the most famous alien-related sites in the American Southwest. They set off in an RV for places such as Area 51 and Roswell, New Mexico. Throughout the early part of their journey the two discuss what they would do if they encountered an alien life form. They both talk as though it is a real possibility.
But late at night, when they are running from an encounter with some angry hunter types they offended in a roadside dinner, they witness a car crash. They pull over to see if the driver has been injured and, despite their obsession with science fiction, they are not prepared for what they see.
Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen) emerges from the darkness looking like the stereotypical image of aliens that are part of the mass media. He’s got a green tint to his skin, an oversized head that is oval in shape and large, almond-shaped eyes. Paul speaks English with an American accent and smokes cigarettes.
Clive faints and wets his pants, nothing like the bravado-filled reactions he imagined he would have at seeing an alien. Graeme takes the first encounter in stride. He’s soon driving along in the RV, having conversations with Paul as though he were any other person and not an alien from space.
Paul crashed landed decades before in Wisconsin on a farm where a little girl Tara (Mia Stallard) was the first person to see him. But government officials quickly picked him up. They picked his brain about his abilities, but they also allowed him to consult with members of Hollywood. According to Paul, he was the inspiration behind “Cocoon,” “E.T.” and plenty of other extra-terrestrial films. But more recently he had realized he wasn’t a guest of the government and had been a prisoner all these years, so he took off on his own.
As Paul, Graeme and Clive head north across the United States, government agents are in hot pursuit. One of them is Agent Zoil (Jason Bateman,) who is anxious to find Paul at the behest of the Big Guy, a top agent who is not seen on screen until near the end of the film. Zoil calls in two other agents to head off Paul at a road block. But Haggard (Bill Hader) and O’Reilly (Joe Lo Truglio) don’t notice anything odd about Graeme and Clive, perhaps because O’Reilly is such a comic book nut he just wants to hear about their trip to ComicCon. Paul has an ability that makes it easy for him to hide for a short time so the two agents don’t see him. When Zoil arrives at the road block, he quickly realizes the two Brits have Paul on board, but he doesn’t reveal any of the details to Haggard and O’Reilly.
The three continue in pursuit of the RV. Though Graeme is confident that they should help Paul, Clive is less certain about it. He has been surly since he woke up from his fainting spell. He seems distrusting of Paul and he doesn’t find any of the things Paul says or does funny or interesting. Clive pouts a lot during the trip, even though before meeting Paul it was his dream to meet an alien.
But the two continue to learn more about Paul, especially after they pick up an unlikely passenger in Ruth Buggs (Kristen Wiig,) a devout Christian who doesn’t believe in evolution. Ruth’s character provides a love interest for Graeme as well as some funny moments.
The movie has some foul language and dirty jokes in it, but overall Pegg and Frost keep the movie funny with clever nods to the alien films that have come before.
