With each subsequent release it's becoming increasingly obvious that Simon Pegg's smash hit success as writer and star of 'Shaun of the Dead' was a fluke rather than the birth of a new cinematic comedy talent. The eagerly anticipated follow-up 'Hot Fuzz' was a damp squib, 'Run Fatboy Run' limped along, and now comes PAUL which, uninspiring title aside, is bereft of any real laughs. Pegg re-teams with his 'Shaun' co-star Nick Frost as Graeme and Clive, a pair of comic book geeks who find themselves caught up in a surreal chase across the wilderness of Nevada, Utah and Wyoming in the company of a 4ft tall alien called Paul. Paul looks like ET and sounds like Seth Rogen, which is probably because he is voiced by Rogen phoning in his performance with the minimum effort. Paul confounds almost every one of Graeme and Clive's long held expectations about how a space alien should behave but none of it's funny. His lines and most of the set-ups are lazy and flabby, relying on the old comedic fall back of "it's funny because we (Pegg and Frost) are in it and we are comedians ergo the scene's funny" instead of writing something that is actually funny. I'd like to say it's self-indulgent humour of the "you had to be there" variety but I was there watching PAUL and I still didn't laugh. Not simply a misfire, and certainly not a future cult classic, PAUL is just a monumental waste of time.
Read more of my reviews at www.thefilmivejustseen.blogspot.com
Read more of my reviews at www.thefilmivejustseen.blogspot.com