Review: Paul

Despite some quite funny gags and various cameos the film never quite takes off. Possibly the pair were distracted by their own love of sci-fi, making the film more of a fun experience for them than the viewer.  To an extent it’s nice to see Frost & Pegg clearly love what they’re doing and had a great time making this, however the end result doesn’t completely work. The film lacks the direction and style of their past collaborations with Edgar Wright and Greg Mottola missed out on a lot of different opportunities to make this more exciting and dynamic. Especially with such an excellent cast, various great comedic actors, none used to their full potential. Jane Lynch for example, anyone familiar with Christopher Guest’s mocumentaries or even Glee will see Lynch is hysterical – the character she plays in Paul is underused and not overly funny. The same can be said for Jeffrey Tambor. There’s also a very unfitting Steven Spielberg cameo, that seems forced in and irrelevant – and once again, not funny. Jason Bateman does quite well, despite being a 2d character and not given a chance to show his skills as a comic actor. Sigourney Weaver is criminally underused, it would have been so see more of her character, likewise with Blythe Danner. Out of the leads, Nick Frost is completely unlikeable as the sulking best friend of Pegg’s character, and the only “amusing” thing they seem to do is show him pissing his pants… that shows the level of humour they’re going for. Pegg, is totally bland in this 

and incredibly fogettable, and again unlikeable. Kristen Wiig is one of the few redeeming elements, and shines as the American Creationist that tags along on their journey.

Based on the star power of the cameos and a few entertaining moments, it’s one to get when it’s on DVD for £3, if you’re that desperate to see it.