PAUL

This fun and goofy comedy isn’t quite as sharp or clever as Hot Fuzz or Shaun of the Dead, but the reteaming of co-stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as sci-fi geeks is nonetheless still entertaining.

Directed by Greg Mottola (Superbad), the buddy picture finds our hapless, Brit heroes, Graeme (Pegg) and Clive (Frost), visiting the U.S. to attend the annual Comic-Con in San Diego. Once the pair have had their fill of toys, superfans and all things sci-fi and fantasy, they set out in a clunky motor home for a road trip through all the UFO hot spots in the southwest. No sooner have they made a pit stop at the notorious “Black Mailbox” en route to Area 51 than they find themselves face to face with an actual, amiable, flip-flop-wearing extraterrestrial.

Named Paul.

An escapee from a top-secret government lab, Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen) is trying to make it to a rendezvous point so his home-planet homeys can pick him up before the Feds cut open his brain. He needs a ride, so Graeme and Clive agree to help get him where he needs to go. They pick up Ruth (Kristen Wiig), a trailer-park Bible thumper with a wonky eye and set out on a joint-fueled journey to, they hope, safety.

Hot on their tail is a steely, determined agent (Jason Bateman), two bumbling mid-rank officers (Bill Hader and Joe Lo Truglio), and Ruth’s inexplicably insane father (John Carroll Lynch, in a role that should have been cut from the film entirely because it serves zero purpose). Not surprisingly, hijinks invariably ensue.

With a very obvious, affectionate nod to the world of science-fiction aficionados, Paul is jam-packed with references and one-liners every Boba Fett wannabe or alien-conspiracy theorist will no doubt love. It assumes everyone watching will get the jokes and, based on the audience reaction at the screening I attended, folks probably will. And, to its credit, every single set-up is paid-off, which is always satisfying.

The problems lie when the film gets too busy, with too many extraneous characters – it’s at its best when it’s Pegg and Frost, whose history and ease with each other elevates their work but makes everyone else seem like tag-alongs. As a result, even though I adore Kristen Wiig, I didn’t really like her here. The good-girl-learns-to-swear is a device I’ve seen before and, as mentioned, the weird subplot about her maniacal father seemed pointless. I’ve also never found Pegg and Frost’s comedies to cater to lowest-common-denominator (read: frat-boy) humor, but the movie does venture into that territory a few times, which was somewhat disappointing.

Still, it was a very fine line between five slices and six for me. Ultimately, while enjoyable, I just couldn’t rank it higher than I did. My movie-going pal, though, absolutely loved it, so I’m certain a slew of eager viewers will ensure this movie lives long and prospers.