PAUL by Cochese

When in the course of human events, there comes a time to find a profound way to begin one's first blog post.  Now that I've knocked that one out of the park, time to move on to my first movie review.

Paul, starring the now legendary Seth Rogen, Simon Pegg, and Nick Frost, and directed by the now legendary Greg Mottola, is basically E.T. for grown ups.  I'm not one for divulging the entire plot in a movie review, so I'll leave it at that.  That's basically it anyway.

Seth Rogen, love him or hate him for what he did to Green Hornet, delivers his usual I'm-just-gonna-play-Seth-Rogen bit.  Like it or not, the man is funny.  The irony (and I'm a big fan of irony) is that even though he's voicing the titular CGI alien, when thrown in with this cast of characters, he pretty much plays the straight man.  He's the Abbot to their collective Costello.  Rogen is no stranger to voicing such characters, having done Kung Fu Panda, Monsters Vs. Aliens, Spiderwick Chronicles, Horton Hears a Who, and Shrek the Third, so he knows how to play it right.  And the laughs are definitely steady.  Much like Rogen, Pegg and Frost play Pegg and Frost with their usual ambiguously gay antics (see Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz).  But make no mistake, when Pegg and Frost play Pegg and Frost, that's when the magic happens.  I feel like I'm just hanging out with them in their living room, laughing at everything they say.  By the time Paul showed up, I had forgotten there was going to be anyone else in the movie.  The rest of the cast is rich, with the likes of Jason Bateman, a "hidden" Sigourney Weaver (revealed in the final scene as though we had no idea it was her voice we were hearing the entire time like Charlie talking to his Angels), and Mottola regulars Bill Hader and Joe Lo Truglio as the token bumbling cops.  But the shining star is Kristen Wiig.  Mark my words people:  Wiig is the Carol Burnett of this generation.  She's only getting started.  Watching her character learn to eagerly and awkwardly break free of her oppressive father and live in the real world is comic gold.  Nobody plays eager awkwardness better.

However..

There is one dark blot on this otherwise hilarious movie that keeps me from giving it a completely good review.  Part of what Kristen Wiig's character is breaking free from is her zealous belief in God, which Paul's existence somehow disproves.  Let me explain myself.  Perhaps I should be, but I'm not the type to get offended every time movies insult Christianity.  I get it.  You've got your platform, you're making your played out, cliche'ed statement.  It's hip to down-talk Christianity in movies.  But in this case, it was blatant, direct, and even cheesy, all because of one ridiculous scene.  (SPOILER ALERT...I guess)  Paul, in a typical sweet moment at the end of the movie, apologizes for scaring Wiig's character and shaking her faith, and Wiig replies, (get ready) "You didn't scare me...you set me free."  It was an odd moment of simultaneous heart sinking and eyes rolling.

I did laugh.  A lot.  And it was a great Pegg/Wright buddy movie.  Without the aforementioned blot, I would have easily given it an A-.  Lots of laughs, lots of heart.  But I just can't think back on it without first thinking of that one final scene.  So I can't give it better than a flat C, all things considered.  Sorry, Paul.

By Cochese