Greg Mottola's new film ""Paul"" has all the makings of a great comedy. He's the guy behind ""Adventureland"" and ""Superbad"" and is teaming up with writer/actors Nick Frost and Simon Pegg (""Shaun of the Dead"") and a host of other comedians including Saturday Night Live's Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig.
This movie seems like a sci-fi nerd's dream. But, sadly, it falls in favor of self-reflexivity and homage to other films than in actual genuine plot or funny moments. The premise is two British men (Frost and Pegg) are in America for Comic-Con and are taking a tour around the United States to famous alien sightings sites like Roswell and Area 51. Along the way, they meet real life alien Paul, voiced by Seth Rogen.
It's obvious that writers Frost and Pegg are in love with sci-fi movies. ""Paul"" throws out references to subjects ranging from Spielberg to ""Star Wars"" to ""Star Trek"" to ""Back to the Future"" and many more. The problem is that although these homages are fun to point out, there is nothing behind the film that really sticks out beyond that. The plot is simple and the journey is long and arduous.
I feel like ""Paul"" has such great potential for being a really enjoyable movie and it did make me laugh at points, but the humor feels recycled. At several points, there are a series of terrible running jokes that keep returning. One of the ""jokes"" is that many of the characters mistakenly think that Frost and Pegg are gay, which isn't really amusing the first time, but when it gets repeated again and again and again, it made me roll my eyes.
Then there's a continual joke about the religious right being gun-toting crazies, as exemplified by the antics of Kristen Wiig wearing a t-shirt that depicts Charles Darwin being shot in the head. It just seems like a really poorly devised critique of religion. The film largely reduces a lot of characters to one-dimensional plot devices.
I can say that the film is technically well made. Animation with the alien ""Paul"" is incredible and the film has several scenes that involve some neat special effects. But, I think that in a movie like this, the brunt of the labor is put on dialogue and it largely falls flat. Yes, it's fun to have a movie filled with references to all kinds of sci-fi picks, but why not just watch the original ones because they are much better films?
""Paul"" largely delves into the realm of repeated jokes and physical gags and falls light on a genuinely funny one-liners like ""Superbad"" or any kind of thoughtful critique. Pegg seems to walk through his performance and it was surprising to me that the attraction between him and the Wiig's character felt extremely forced and gimmicky.
The film is a tribute to all kinds of different movies, but it's not a nice tribute that someone like Quentin Tarintino can do that transcends homage into something new, it's more like a ""Oh, that's a cool reference,"" and instantly forgettable. I had high expectations for the movie and it just wasn't very interesting. There are some funny bits, so if you enjoy a crude type of humor with some references to geek culture, you'll probably have a decent time. I just didn't.
