There is a dedicated fanbase who would watch Simon Pegg and Nick Frost play table tennis in the dark if tickets were on sale and in their third big screen outing the duo take on alien encounters in America with the huge affection and expectation Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz engendered.
Superbad director Greg Mottola steps up to direct the pair with an excellent cast alongside them including Jane Lynch, Jason Bateman and Kristen Wiig. It’s very easy to like Paul as Pegg and Frost are clearly having the time of their lives, something the commentary (which features the pair with Mottola, a marvellously dry Bill Hader and an almost completely absent Nira Park) attests to, and while Paul doesn’t have the bite of of Shaun or Hot Fuzz it doesn’t need to. This is Pegg and Frost in a more relaxed mood and subsequently the laughs don’t come as fast or as hard as fans may be used to, but as the film progresses it becomes more of an ensemble comedy with Kristen Wiig and Jason Bateman and, of course, our crude bird-noshing extra terrestrial, Paul.
When Graeme and Clive (Pegg and Frost) begin their journey we are in the realm of Comic-Con and the surrounding nerdvana, throughout this section there’s a lazy sense of complete enjoyment but there’s a story to tell and when they hit the open road they find out quickly that the open road sometimes hits back. Once the rented RV gets going and the earthbound alien appears there opens up a far more interesting avenue for the pair to explore and their script does take a playful swipe at geek culture, in particular the morning after The X-Files, but blind devotion to religion and a Men in Black team giving chase for the run of the film do keep the pace up. Paul himself is a mostly successful blend of some amazing work by Double Negative and Seth Rogen whose voice gives the character the brash, amiable spirit which is necessary to balance out the British duo’s nerdy reticence and it works, for the most part.
Amongst the in-jokes and broad comedy there’s a lot to enjoy, perhaps it’s not what people expected from the pair as it is deliberately broad in its appeal, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz were very grounded in their Englishness this is Americana writ large, with redneck bar fights, gun toting Bible bashers and government conspiracy as far as the eye can see playing out as a view of the country from afar. In many ways it seems to be a love letter to the 90s culture where the geek emerged from their Trek costumes and Galaxy Quest could point out the fun, while The X-Files became the biggest programme on the planet. In any case I had a lot of fun with the film, though subtle it is not and I am happy to stand in the intended audience.
Pegg and Frost retain their on screen marriage with gusto and if you are fans of the pair then you’ll have decided to pick this one up anyway. The special features may well tempt you to part with your money, with a decent commentary from Pegg and Frost who talk about the beginnings of the film, the production and laugh a lot about their time on set. The other extra of note is the evolution of Paul which looks at the creation of the character from initial design through to the shoot (with Joe Lo Truglio on hand to provide the voice) and then through the creation in post production.
Film: [Rating:3.5/5]
DVD: [Rating:3/5]
