HOME |  CULT MOVIES | COMPETITIONS | ADVERTISE |  CONTACT US |  ABOUT US
 
 
 
Newest Reviews
American Fiction
Poor Things
Thunderclap
Zeiram
Legend of the Bat
Party Line
Night Fright
Pacha, Le
Kimi
Assemble Insert
Venus Tear Diamond, The
Promare
Beauty's Evil Roses, The
Free Guy
Huck and Tom's Mississippi Adventure
Rejuvenator, The
Who Fears the Devil?
Guignolo, Le
Batman, The
Land of Many Perfumes
Cat vs. Rat
Tom & Jerry: The Movie
Naked Violence
Joyeuses Pacques
Strangeness, The
How I Became a Superhero
Golden Nun
Incident at Phantom Hill
Winterhawk
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
Maigret Sets a Trap
B.N.A.
Hell's Wind Staff, The
Topo Gigio and the Missile War
Battant, Le
Penguin Highway
Cazadore de Demonios
Snatchers
Imperial Swordsman
Foxtrap
   
 
Newest Articles
3 From Arrow Player: Sweet Sugar, Girls Nite Out and Manhattan Baby
Little Cat Feat: Stephen King's Cat's Eye on 4K UHD
La Violence: Dobermann at 25
Serious Comedy: The Wrong Arm of the Law on Blu-ray
DC Showcase: Constantine - The House of Mystery and More on Blu-ray
Monster Fun: Three Monster Tales of Sci-Fi Terror on Blu-ray
State of the 70s: Play for Today Volume 3 on Blu-ray
The Movie Damned: Cursed Films II on Shudder
The Dead of Night: In Cold Blood on Blu-ray
Suave and Sophisticated: The Persuaders! Take 50 on Blu-ray
Your Rules are Really Beginning to Annoy Me: Escape from L.A. on 4K UHD
A Woman's Viewfinder: The Camera is Ours on DVD
Chaplin's Silent Pursuit: Modern Times on Blu-ray
The Ecstasy of Cosmic Boredom: Dark Star on Arrow
A Frosty Reception: South and The Great White Silence on Blu-ray
You'll Never Guess Which is Sammo: Skinny Tiger and Fatty Dragon on Blu-ray
Two Christopher Miles Shorts: The Six-Sided Triangle/Rhythm 'n' Greens on Blu-ray
Not So Permissive: The Lovers! on Blu-ray
Uncomfortable Truths: Three Shorts by Andrea Arnold on MUBI
The Call of Nostalgia: Ghostbusters Afterlife on Blu-ray
Moon Night - Space 1999: Super Space Theater on Blu-ray
Super Sammo: Warriors Two and The Prodigal Son on Blu-ray
Sex vs Violence: In the Realm of the Senses on Blu-ray
What's So Funny About Brit Horror? Vampira and Bloodbath at the House of Death on Arrow
Keeping the Beatles Alive: Get Back
   
 
  Paul Loving The Alien
Year: 2011
Director: Greg Mottola
Stars: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Jane Lynch, Jason Bateman, Jeffrey Tambor, Sigourney Weaver, Blythe Danner, Joe Lo Truglio, Bill Hader, David Koechner, Jesse Plemons, John Carroll Lynch, Steven Spielberg
Genre: Comedy, Science Fiction, AdventureBuy from Amazon
Rating:  5 (from 3 votes)
Review: Graeme Willy and Clive Gollings are having the time of their lives. Following a visit to Comic Con they embark on a road trip across the USA, stopping off at infamous sites of alleged alien encounters. But they didn't bargain on having an alien encounter of their own involving Paul, a wisecracking extra-terrestrial escapee who needs their help to rendezvous with his mothership.

It was inevitable that following their success in Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz comedy duo Simon Pegg and Nick Frost would attempt to bring their brand of humour to an American film. Sadly the result is substandard, uncomfortably straddling cult and mainstream appeal without satisfying either audience. Pegg and Frost once again make for a likeable comic partnership but the jokes are disappointingly predictable and the tone of this sci-fi comedy is all over the place.

The character of Paul is indicative of this, as voiced by Seth Rogen he's a brash anti-authoritarian pot smoking slacker, more worldly wise than his human friends but bar some near the knuckle humour his persona is far too tame. Reiterating this neutered tone is the rather weak and pointless attempt to satirise creationism, which may cause offence to some American audiences but result in British viewers shrugging their shoulders and wondering what all the fuss is about. The cast do their best with the material and to be fair there are a couple of funny moments, Kristen Wiig's performance as a reluctant passenger on the trio's journey being one, but the whole endeavour is disjointed and unsatisfying.

Paul is symptomatic of what happens when British comedy stars try to replicate their humour within the Hollywood machine. Frustratingly restrained it feels like a movie made within the strict confines of the studio system, in fact a low budget indie film may have been a better choice for the duo's first American venture. As it stands there aren't enough geeky references to make it a cult hit, and it's not funny enough to secure mainstream success. Instead Paul plays safe with predominantly limp gags and a lacklustre rebellious tone which amounts to little more than a smattering of swear words. This generic middle-of-the-road movie is a forgettable addition to the otherwise impressive comedy CV's of Pegg and Frost.
Reviewer: Jason Cook

 

This review has been viewed 5037 time(s).

As a member you could Rate this film

 
Review Comments (1)
Posted by:
Graeme Clark
Date:
21 Aug 2011
  The humour may have been relentlessly obvious, but I had a good time with this, it wanted to do nothing but have a bit of fun with fandom, and the jabs at creationism marked it out as something not entirely Hollywood at all, refreshing to see smuggled in there - even if Pegg and Frost sounded as if they were softpedalling that part in their publicity interviews. Nothing wrong with a bit of goodnatured silliness when so many modern comedies aim for the meanspirited.
       


Untitled 1

Login
  Username:
 
  Password:
 
   
 
Forgotten your details? Enter email address in Username box and click Reminder. Your details will be emailed to you.
   

Latest Poll
Which star probably has psychic powers?
Laurence Fishburne
Nicolas Cage
Anya Taylor-Joy
Patrick Stewart
Sissy Spacek
Michelle Yeoh
Aubrey Plaza
Tom Cruise
Beatrice Dalle
Michael Ironside
   
 
   

Recent Visitors
Darren Jones
Mark Le Surf-hall
Enoch Sneed
  Louise Hackett
Andrew Pragasam
Mary Sibley
Graeme Clark
  Desbris M
   

 

Last Updated: