Paul

A couple of nights ago I went to see Simon Pegg & Nick Frost's first feature departure from the Blood and Ice Cream Saga with Edgar Wright. This time penned by Frogg (I love a good portmanteau) and directed by Greg Mottola (Superbad, Adventureland) the film is a story about two comic book nerds, Graeme (Pegg) and Clive (Frost) on a road trip across the United States, visiting famous UFO sites along the way. On this child-like journey of the imagination they accidentally make first contact with a familiar face.

Or do they? It turns out that the affable alien Paul has been trapped on the earth by the U.S. government for around 60 years and has acquired a lot of our customs (including smoking, swearing and drinking heavily). The reason he looks so cliche is that his face has been drip-fed to us so that we wouldn't get scared if his race ever came to Earth. THIS is what makes Paul's character so ridiculously believable and sympathetic.

Paul is sympathetic because he is a laid-back guy trying to do the right thing who happens to be an alien on the run. This shows that Pegg has form for writing extremely sympathetic characters who have major character flaws. In Shaun of the Dead, Shaun is actually a bit of an arsehole but his redeeming qualities make him sympathetic. This is the case with Paul. Paul is arrogant, he is rude and he is deceptive but he has a heart of gold. (The scene where he meets up with the girl who found him 60 years previously is as heartbreaking as it is life-affirming).

This is another Frogg film that I could wax lyrical on as it was extremely entertaining, with fully rounded characters, some hilarious moments, tonnes of references (some obvious, some not-so-obvious) and a compelling but standard plot of the big evil government trying to destroy the little guy. There is also a fantastic little twist involving Jason Bateman's character Zoyle (another hilarious reference is here once you find out his first name) who is pure comedic evil throughout the film.

I loved this film and for anybody of a geeky disposition you will feel right at home.