Paul is a testament to rollicking stoner fun - Science Fiction and Fantasy Movies

Paul is a testament to rollicking stoner fun
April 17, 2011
Nick Dent
Thetelegraph.com.au

PAUL, Universal, 104 minutes (MA15+); Verdict: Fanboys will have fun in this stoner ET.

While for some people science fiction is a kind of religion, for others, religion is a kind of science fiction.

New Testament teachings about a friendly alien who visits Earth, is persecuted, reborn and ascends back into the skies provide the template for movies like ET (1982), Star Man (1984), Mac And Me (1988) and now Paul.

A Christian reading is something the makers of Paul are eager to debunk, however, despite their alien's Biblical name. When the stranded space creature of the title (voiced by Seth Rogen) finds himself being cursed as a demon by a panicked evangelist, Ruth (Kristen Wiig), he uses his unearthly talents to perform a wonderful act of kindness. "It's a miracle!" Ruth proclaims. "No," sighs Paul. "It's evolution."

Reclaiming ET for the atheists is not the main purpose of this latest film written by and starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Rather, the Brit duo who masterminded zom-com Shaun of the Dead and cop-com Hot Fuzz have crafted a love letter to the 1970s and '80s sci-fi movies they grew up watching.

Graeme (Pegg) and Clive (Frost) are two British nerds on a long-planned holiday in the USA. First stop is Comic-Con in San Diego, the annual convention for geek culture where attendees dress up as their favourite Star Wars characters, buy merchandise from their favourite TV shows and get books signed by their favourite science fiction authors.

For Clive, who's fluent in Klingon, and Graeme, who likes to draw prodigiously endowed fantasy swordswomen, the place is like Mecca.The second half of their trip is a tour of famous UFO sites such as Area 51 and it's here that the Englishmen stumble upon the fugitive Paul. Having crash-landed in Wyoming in 1947, the alien has been kept hidden by the government and didn't realise he was a prisoner until he felt like leaving their custody.

Paul convinces the two tourists to give him a lift, while a shadowy government agent, Zoil (Jason Bateman), and two clumsy offsiders (Bill Hader and Joe Lo Truglio) are in relentless pursuit.

Directed by Greg Mottola (Superbad, Adventureland), the film is a likeable romp with broad humour and a male bonding agenda. Paul may not look anything like Seth Rogen, but he's simply another variation on the stoner dude that Rogen has made his stock-in-trade.

You don't have to be a fan of old sci-fi movies to enjoy the film but it certainly helps. Famous lines of dialogue are borrowed from such movies (and a few actors, too).

So ladies, if your date starts laughing for no apparent reason, it's because someone has just said something that Han Solo once said in a film whose script, to fanboys, is as familiar a sacred text.