Paul (2011)

Here's the thing about Paul: the premise is genuinely brilliant. Two sci-fi obsessed British nerds on a road trip across the American Southwest who stumble across an actual, foul-mouthed, wisecracking alien. It sounds like exactly the kind of film Simon Pegg and Nick Frost were put on this earth to make. And for stretches of it, that's precisely what it feels like. Then the middle act happens, and you start checking how much time is left.

Let me be clear, though. I had a good time. Paul himself, voiced by Seth Rogen, is a genuine creation. He's part stoner, part pop-culture oracle, part cosmic smartarse, and the film is at its funniest whenever he opens his mouth. There's a blasphemous streak running through his character that works far better than it has any right to, and his swagger carries a lot of scenes that might otherwise feel flat. If you've ever wanted to see a CGI alien delivered with the energy of someone who's been living in a Malibu beach house for sixty years, here you go.

The supporting cast commits admirably to the madness. Jason Bateman does his sardonic best. Kristen Wiig gets some genuinely funny material as her character's religious certainties start to crumble. Sigourney Weaver shows up and clearly enjoys the whole thing. Nobody is phoning it in, and the film has a warmth to it that keeps you on side even when the jokes aren't quite landing.

What I kept coming back to, though, is how much better this could have been. Pegg and Frost have real chemistry, obviously. I love Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz deeply, and a big part of what makes those films work is Edgar Wright's manic, precisely controlled direction. Paul is directed by Greg Mottola, whose work on Superbad I enjoyed enormously, and he's a capable hand. But without Wright at the wheel, there's no real propulsion. The "on the run" structure plods when it should sprint, and the middle section sags badly. You can feel the film coasting on its goodwill and its references rather than building toward anything genuinely surprising.

The geek-culture references are plentiful and clearly affectionate. As a love-in for a certain kind of sci-fi fandom, it works. But there's also something a little self-satisfied about the way it nudges you, grinning, every time it drops another nod to Close Encounters or Spielberg. The best genre comedies earn their references. They don't just collect them like badges.

To be fair to Paul, it does sneak in some smarter material about faith, belief, and the nature of fandom. There's a thread running through the film about how easily certainty can be punctured, whether that's religious conviction or nerdy gatekeeping, and for a raucous road-trip comedy it's a more interesting idea than you might expect. The problem is that it never quite commits to following that thread all the way. It'd rather go back to a crude gag, and sometimes the crude gag is funny enough that you forgive it. Sometimes it isn't.

Three stars. Paul is a film I enjoyed without ever being genuinely excited by. It's the kind of thing you watch on a Friday night with a beer and a takeaway, laugh at regularly, and then struggle to quote accurately by Sunday. The charisma of everyone involved keeps it afloat, and Paul the character himself is worth the price of admission on his own terms. But as a film? Good, not great. The premise deserved something a bit bolder, a bit tighter, a bit less willing to settle for perfectly fine.

Rating: ★★★  | Year: 2011  | Watched: 2025-10-06

View on Letterboxd →

Where to watch

Watch in the UK
Rent: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Buy: Apple TV Store · Rakuten TV · Amazon Video · Google Play Movies
Physical: Amazon UK · Zavvi

Watch in the US
Stream: Peacock Premium · Peacock Premium Plus
Rent: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Buy: Amazon Video · Apple TV Store · Google Play Movies · YouTube
Physical: Amazon US

Affiliate disclosure: Movies With Macca may earn a small commission on purchases or subscriptions started via these links. It costs you nothing extra.

Related on Movies With Macca

More from Greg Mottola: Superbad (2007)
More with Simon Pegg: Hot Fuzz (2007) · The Ice Age Adventures of Buck Wild (2022) · Shaun of the Dead (2004)
More from United Kingdom: Lessons of Darkness (1992) · Shinjuku Boys (1995) · The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) · Blue (1993)
More from the 2010s: Wonder (2017) · Beautiful Boy (2018) · The Witch (2015) · What We Do in the Shadows (2014)
More adventure: Alice in Wonderland (1951) · The Eagle (1925) · Louisiana Story (1948) · The General (1926)
More comedy: The Eagle (1925) · The General (1926) · Americana (2023) · The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)