Review of Paul (2011) by Jana C — 10 Aug 2013

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost came together once again, and this time they made Paul. Where to begin with this disaster? Seth Rogan is the voice of Paul, the alien, that's good. Nick Frost's character is named Clive, that's bad. Simon Pegg is not that funny and has a silly love interest with Christen Wiig, that's very bad. Bill Hader plays a bumbling idiot with a partner who is even worse, that was the nail in the coffin. Pegg and Frost are at Comic-Con and go on the road every nerd dreams of. On their way they run into Paul, an alien on the run trying to get home. Ugh...I hope you enjoy WillyT rants because this is a good one.

Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz both got the WillyT Seal of Approval so I had high hopes and expectations going in. Edgar Wright was not involved with this movie so that is the biggest mistake. Simon Pegg helped Wright write the other two movies but Paul was written by Pegg and Frost. I'm sure Rogan improvised many of his line like he does to add his comedy, but the writing was poor in this movie. The story was weak and the plot twist at the end should have been a shock, but I couldn't have cared less. The characters were stupid other than the three main ones but even they were written poorly. I wanted this movie to be so much better and after seeing it for the third time I don't know if I ever want to see it again.

Let's start with the characters. Simon Pegg is a funny guy and a fantastic writer but he intentionally writes himself as unfunny. The only funny part about his character is his name, Graeme Willy. Come on, that name is beyond stupid and the only thing worse is a name like Clive Gollings, but wait that's Nick Frost character's name. Good God if anything annoyed me more in this movie it was hearing their names. I get they are nerds but nerds have normal names. Their relationship is at least believable and the gag that the two of them are gay is funny throughout the movie. The both of them can act and be funny and while this wasn't their best performance they had their moments, just not many.

The main source of the comedy came from Paul and Seth Rogan. Rogan is one of the funniest men in America and he does not disappoint as the role of Paul. The character Paul is the single ray of sunshine during the cloudy day. From the first scene to the end credits Paul is a riot. When he revives the bird, gives Spielberg the idea for ET, and especially the argument about evolution is all hysterical. I remember rolling in my seat in the theater a few years ago. The problem is that he doesn't share the spotlight. He is the only thing funny about the movie. Pegg is funny. Frost is very funny, but in this movie he is obnoxious and boring. Jason Bateman is also in this movie and he can be funny but he is written as a serious secret agent so he isn't supposed to be funny. Bateman was a miscast; he could have been in the movie but not as that character.

This movie also has Christen Wiig and Bill Hader who are really good on SNL but I hate them in this movie. Hader is incredibly annoying and every time he and his dumb partner are on screen I feel like a four year old would only laugh at their comedy. They act like a child, which is the point, but I hate it. The scene where they play hide and seek is too silly to be funny. Their end result is very satisfying so touché to the writing on that one. I laughed because I hated the characters more than it was funny.

Christen Wiig is probably the worst part of the entire movie. Her character is a God loving nutcase who has a lazy eye. The lazy eye was so unnecessary and I get why it was their but it wasn't needed. The eye is used for the final push so she believes that Paul is real and she questions God. Another major problem is that she believes strongly God for her entire life. She wears a funny shirt that says "Evolve this" or whatever it says and it has Jesus shooting Darwin in the face. I will say that was the only funny part of her character but I think it would have been funnier if they didn't mention it and left it as subtle comedy. Anyway, her beliefs are changed in three seconds and she no longer believes in God because Paul passes on his experiences and knowledge. That is wrong on so many levels. They can't straight up deny the existence of God. That is morally wrong in my opinion. I'm not a God fanatic but I do believe in God and the way they went about her character was wrong. I don't believe she would have taken a complete U-turn in thirty seconds.

Overall, Paul was a huge disappointment. It was funny, I was laughing but it was stupid silly humor. The characters and story were so lame and poorly written. The childish humor would have been funny if I was under the age of ten and this movie is rated R so not many ten year olds will watch it. Christen Wiig has a lot of poop and fart jokes as she starts swearing and its hit and miss. Paul is an overall disaster but it has its funny moments so it gets the WillyT A For Effort. I wanted better and its honestly hard to sit through.