Paul

One thing I've always loved in cinema is the skillful parody.  Masters like Mel Brooks and the Python's have always split my sides with their precise dissection of genre norms, whether they wield subtle or sledge-hammer wit.  These days, the emerging "New Guard" in the field of parody films is headed up by the team of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.  Their first film, Shaun of the Dead, brilliantly lampooned the oft over the top Zombie Movie genre.  They teamed up again for Hot Fuzz, a film that skillfully skewered Buddy Cop action films.  Now with their third major collaboration, Paul, they tackle Alien Encounter science fiction films like ET and (big surprise) Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  And while the parody aspect of their first two films was obviously born of a desire to announce their devotion to the given genre, warts and all, Paul succeeds in remaining a dutifully devoted parody of the source material while still telling a compellingly original story.  And while I have to say that I find SotD and HF with their plethora of in jokes to be more thoroughly hilarious in general, I appreciate Paul as a more complete film.

The film opens with two Science Fiction fans from the UK (played by Pegg and Frost) attending the San Diego Comic-Con, a well known mecca for Nerds all over the world.  After the conference, they rent an RV and set out on a tour of purported Alien encounter hot-spots.  As they travel, they witness a car crash in the desert.  Stopping to help, they meet Paul, a smart mouthed Extra terrestrial who quickly befriends the two.  He lets them know that he is attempting to meet up with a ship that will take him off world.  As they travel, they encounter government agents attempting to reacquire Paul for nefarious reasons. 

From a technical standpoint, Paul demonstrates some impressive special effects and sound.  The character Paul, voice hilariously by Seth Rogan, is completely computer generated and almost always believable.  The sound design and score are excellent, including a number of recognizable queues.  Overall, effects rarely distract from the story, which is always important in this kind of film. 

Overall, Paul does a great job of telling a humorous and heartwarming story within the guidelines of it's genre while managing to feel completely original and complimentary of it's inspiration at the same time.  While I can't say that it is a better film than Pegg and Frost's previous work, it certainly deserves to be mentioned among them. 

8 Small Cowboy's out of 10.