Paul: Now on DVD

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my rating: 2.5 out of 5
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, from Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz fame, star in this road trip comedy about two British nerds visiting Comic-Con who stumble upon a real live alien. There is an abundance of "blue" humor, atheism, and foul language to poison the well for me. Any charm this movie may have had has been destroyed by the negative elements.


Otherwise, there are some great actors (Simon, Nick, Bill Hader from SNL, Kristen Wiig from SNL, and Jason Bateman.) There are even a couple of surprise cameos to liven the sci-fi spirit of this cheesy comedy.

There are plenty of "inside" Star Wars references throughout, and it seems the writers / producers were enthusiastically reaching for the geek / sci-fi saavy audience. So then, why are the jokes so crude, offensive, and low-brow? Nerds are smart! We don't want half-hearted crass trash to entertain us. Leave that for the Jersey Shore crowd. Nerds need sci-fi comedy to be compelling, smart, and interesting. Shaun of the Dead was such an innovative and clever comedy. Paul is just lazy and insulting. The alien, Paul, talks to the guys like he's some kind of arrogant frat boy, or a partying drug dealer. The joke wears very thin, very quickly. The potential for this kind of modern alien comedy was great, but it was squandered on the lowest common demoniator. And it didn't quite work for me.




Comments

  1. Unknown5:37 PM

    I agree! I fell asleep during this movie. It bored me to tears!

    ReplyDelete

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