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From sci-fi to comedy to bro-mance, Paul has something for everyone

Graeme and Clive are two English geeks who travel to Comic-Con and then set out on a southwest road trip around famous UFO sites. Piloting a beat-up Winnebago, the gents run afoul of a pair of rednecks, who mistake their proper diction for gayness. While fleeing a certain beating, they run straight into Paul, an alien held captive since the 40s by the U.S. government. Paul has no plans for an anal probing (Why does everyone ask me that?). The laid-back, pot-smoking ET just wants to get to him ship and get home.

A solid premise is made very funny indeed, thanks to Nick Frost and Simon Pegg, the men behind Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz. In addition to starring as the endearingly nerdy Graeme and Clive, the pair co-wrote Paul, a smutty homage to the sci-fi genre. Directed by Superbads Greg Mottola and featuring Seth Rogen as the olive-green, wise-cracking Paul, the film spoofs a number of science-fiction films, most notably Star Wars, Close Encounters and Alien (Sigourney Weaver co-stars,Steven Speilberg has a call-in cameo).

To balance out all the boy stuff, theres a side story about a cute Christian fundamentalist (Kristen Wiig) whose beliefs are called into question when shes face to face with Paul. She decides that if theres no Hell she might as well purge every expletive shes ever heard and make a play for Graeme while shes at it. Its a road trip, its a chase movie, its a coming-of-age bro-mance. Paul has something for everyone.

Tons of special features on the standard disc including bloopers, commentary with Motolla, Frost, Pegg and more, picture galleries, a making-of extra with visual effects and animation supervisors and an extra featuring Jeffrey Tambor as Adam Shadowchild.

jcrawfordfilm@gmail.com