Paul

Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen

Director: Greg Mottola

Rating: Loved It

Paul is an alien...well, he's what an alien would be if Seth Rogen were from another planet.  He is funny, likable and smokes pot.  He can share all his collected knowledge through the touch of his hand.  He is a great central character for a movie.  

Graeme (Pegg) and Clive (Frost) are on "holiday" in the United States and attending comic con.  After they're visit to the geekest place on Earth, they rent an RV and take off on a trek across the States to visit famous alien sites.  Along the way, they encounter Paul.  Paul is an alien that is trying to make it home.  He befriends the pair and soon their off one great road trip.  

The cast in this movie could not have been better.  From the federal agent, Zoil (Jason Bateman), that is hot on the tail of Paul and his new friends to the waitress at the local diner, Pat Stevens (Jane Lynch), to the backwoods father Moses Buggs (John Carroll Lynch) the entire cast is awesome.  Every part is portrayed just right.  I couldn't have thought of anybody better to play these parts.  

The script is fantastic, too.  There are so many nods to famous movies and pop culture references I'm pretty sure there is no way I caught them all.  I'm definitely going to be watching this one again.  The ways in which Paul has affected our culture over the years he's spent here is perfect as well.  He even gets a call from a particular Hollywood socialite that is one of the funniest scenes in the film.  

I will give you fair warning: if you are easily offended by religious jokes and humor, you might want to avoid this one.  There's really nothing off bounds here.  The movie isn't out of the way crude, especially by today's standards, but there isn't a topic that's really off limits.  Pegg and Frost penned this one; so, I'm sure some of you know exactly what to expect.  

The scenes from the trailers and promo ads are some of the funnier ones, but there are plenty that aren't in the ads as well.  I found myself laughing out loud several times.  That's not something that happens in movies a lot to be honest. 

I found myself kind of leery about this one when I first heard about it.  I remember seeing the first trailers and wondering whether or not I would really want to see it, but I'm glad a good friend of mine talked me into giving it a chance.  It's not your typical alien movie, but there is definitely a lot of references to all those typical alien flicks.  If you're looking for a good comedy that's not something you see everyday, pick this up and give it a try.