Paul (2011)

Out of this world road trip
English pals Graeme and Clive (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost respectively) make their geek-dream pilgrimage to Comic Con in San Diego.  The pals then hit the road to visit 'alien' sites throughout the southwest.  They meet up with Paul, an alien who takes them on a madcap road trip fraught with rednecks, government agents, and fundamentalists.  Paul works well as a tribute to E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind with nods toward Men In Black and the Alien franchise.  Pegg and Frost have great chemistry and the film is a fun watch with a a few laugh out loud moments.  But Paul pales in comparison to Shaun of the Dead and is not quite as good as Hot Fuzz.  The film hovers mainly in the area of 'amusing'.

A fun film that falls a little flat, Paul gets an out of this world 3 out of 5 Poblanos!

Director: Greg Mottola (Superbad, Adventureland)
Writer: Nick Frost, Simon Pegg
Starring: Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Seth Rogen, Jason Bateman, and appearances by Jeffrey Tambor, Jane Lynch, and Sigourney Weaver
Rotten Tomatoes: 72%
Metacritic: 57 out of 100