COMEDY; 1hr 44min
STARRING: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Jason Bateman
Exceptionally close encounter: from left, Pegg, Wiig, Frost and Paul
As nerdlinger British best mates on a post-Comic-Con, UFO-highlights road trip in their rented motor home, Shaun of the Dead ’s Pegg (Graeme Willy) and Frost (Clive Gollings) are as comfy together as two old slippers (they also co-wrote the screenplay). What the lads think they want is to encounter a dead-set alien. But when they stumble upon putty-coloured Paul (gravel-voiced by Rogen), it’s the culture shock of a lifetime.
Vertically challenged, twiggy of limb, lunar-eyed and gigantic of head, Paul is a blokey bundle of fun. He’s also deep in strife, hunted by governmental types, with a buttoned-up Bateman leading the pack. This doesn’t dampen Paul’s popped-cork spirits or his unearthly knack for stirring the pot, which makes this one of the most madcap road trips you’re ever likely to take, especially after Wiig joins the team as a newly liberated Bible thumper with a one-off way of cursing. Superbad director Greg Mottola compounds lunacy in a nutty spinout that keeps on keeping on to the delirious nth degree. He really is way-out there.
