A Couple Of Aliens, And A Dude From Outer Space

 A Couple Of Aliens, And A Dude From Outer Space

One of the secrets to the appeal of the comedy Paul is simply this: The extraterrestrial of the title, voiced by Seth Rogen, only smokes pot occasionally.

That's important, if only because Rogen has done so many stoner movies and might-as-well-be stoner movies that a lot of people might be dubious about the potential of an alien doing that "Huh-huh-huh" laugh for 104 minutes. Might scare a lot of people off, that prospect.

And that would be a shame, because Paul is a good-hearted, funny movie.

Written by and starring the team of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (who are also responsible for Hot Fuzz and Shaun Of The Dead), Paul follows Graeme and Clive, a pair of sci-fi-loving Brits, on their U.S. tour. Their agenda is to hit Comic-Con — the gigantic annual gathering of the superfans of just about everything that has superfans — then drive around in a rented RV visiting the sites of America's most famous UFO encounters. Along the way, they're shocked to encounter Paul, a little alien in cargo shorts and flip-flops who needs their help to stay one step ahead of the guys in black sedans, led by the imposing Agent Zoil (Jason Bateman).

So now we have a road movie, a buddy comedy, and a sort of Dukes Of the Planet Hazzard thing going on.

Inevitably, a pretty girl (Kristen Wiig) hops in the guys' mobile home for reasons too convoluted to detail, so we have a love story as well. And the central joke, which returns again and again, is about what happens when two enthusiasts thoroughly steeped in pop-culture notions about aliens meet a real one — one who knows all about E.T., fear of probes and The X-Files' Agent Mulder.

There are some cute nods to the world of sci-fi, but they're generally on the right side of the line between fun and smug.

It's a mistake to read Paul as some kind of exegesis on fandom, either cutting or complimentary. Graeme and Clive are just guys, and their fandom is there merely for the comedy setup. It doesn't define every single thing they do; their every line is not devoted to stressing that they only play video games, never go outside, have no social skills, and so on down the list of stereotypes. Most important is their self-awareness. They've got a sense of humor and perspective about their enthusiasms, wild as they are.