The best thing about Paul is the friendship between Graeme and Clive, played by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, respectively. It's clear that Pegg and Frost have been great friends for a long time and watching them nerd it up together at Comic-Con is probably not too far from how they would behave together off-screen (assuming they both weren't famous actors). Graeme and Clive are two Londoners in America for the first time, primarily to attend Comic-Con, but also to tour various places in the US where aliens are rumored to have landed, like Area 51 and Roswell, New Mexico. While driving somewhere in the middle of the desert in their trusty rented RV, a car speeds past them, swerves recklessly and crashes. Graeme and Clive go to investigate the crash and, wouldn't you know it, a little green alien emerges. He's Paul.
Paul is a completely CGI character, voiced by Seth Rogen and acts basically as Rogen would act if he were an alien. Paul smokes, drinks, swears and is fond of dropping trou and showing his little green ass whenever he gets the chance. He's on the run from the government, who have been holding him against his will for the past 60 years and he's trying to get back to his home planet.
Paul, along with Super 8 (which I haven't seen yet) is an homage to the Steven Spielberg sci-fi movies of the 80s, like E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, only with a lot more swearing. Pegg and Frost co-wrote the script and are clearly sci-fi nerds of the highest order. There are nods and allusions to countless other sci-fi movies, some of which I caught, most of which I'm sure I didn't catch. None of these "inside baseball" allusions feel cheap or gimmicky though.
While the sci-fi stuff is very clever and well put together, the thing I enjoyed the most about Paul was when the characters are just allowed to hang out and shoot the shit. Graeme and Clive are both, not surprisingly, extremely excited to have met an actual alien. The fact that he's actually a cool guy and wants to hang out with them is an added bonus. Pegg and Frost have a natural rapport together and Rogen fits right in. The dialog is very natural and there was probably a fair amount of ad-libbing going on during the shoot. I was finding myself a bit disappointed when the chase would resume, because I wanted to spend more time just hanging out with Graeme, Clive and Paul.
Still, I found myself very pleasantly surprised by Paul. Kristin Wiig is adorable as an awkward, sheltered Christian girl that the guys pick up along the way. Jason Bateman continues his career renaissance as the government agent tracking Paul, and Sigourney Weaver is a total badass as Bateman's boss. Paul is funny and heartfelt, a loving homage by Pegg and Frost to the movies they grew up watching and loving.
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