Paul
“Two sci-fi geeks. One runaway alien. The road trip just got extraterrestrial.”
Director
Greg Mottola
Release
14 February 2011
Runtime
104 Minutes
Certificate
15
Synopsis
Graeme and Clive have travelled from Britain to America for the ultimate geek holiday: Comic-Con followed by a road trip through some of the country's most famous UFO landmarks. Then they meet Paul. Far removed from the mysterious extraterrestrials of classic science fiction, Paul is sarcastic, outspoken and remarkably accustomed to human culture. After years in government custody, he's escaped and needs help reaching the place where he can finally leave Earth. Graeme and Clive agree to help, putting themselves directly in the path of federal agents pursuing their new passenger. Their journey becomes even more complicated when Ruth Buggs joins the unlikely group, while her furious father also sets off after them. Suddenly, two men who have spent their lives obsessed with fictional aliens are risking everything to save a real one.
The Movie Trailer
Paul is a 2011 science-fiction comedy that sends Simon Pegg and Nick Frost on an American road trip with a passenger far stranger than they expected.
Graeme Willy and Clive Gollings are two British science-fiction fans travelling through America's UFO heartland after attending Comic-Con. Their dream holiday takes an extraordinary turn when they encounter Paul, an alien who has spent decades on Earth and is now desperate to escape.
With government agents closing in, Graeme and Clive suddenly find themselves helping an extraterrestrial fugitive reach freedom — turning their geek pilgrimage into the kind of adventure they've spent their lives watching on screen.
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
When Two Sci-Fi Fans Finally Meet the Real Thing
Graeme and Clive have spent years immersed in science fiction, but nothing prepares them for finding an actual extraterrestrial on a deserted American road.
Paul immediately upends almost everything they expect from an alien encounter. He's irreverent, opinionated and far more familiar with human behaviour than either man anticipated.
For two lifelong believers, helping him escape becomes the ultimate adventure — except this time there are real consequences when things go wrong.
PEGG AND FROST
A Road Movie Built Around an Established Comedy Partnership
Simon Pegg and Nick Frost bring their familiar chemistry to Graeme and Clive, two friends whose enthusiasm for science fiction makes them ideal companions for the strangest road trip of their lives.
The pair also wrote the screenplay, surrounding their characters with an ensemble that includes Kristen Wiig, Jason Bateman, Bill Hader, Blythe Danner and Sigourney Weaver.
Seth Rogen's voice performance gives Paul the attitude at the centre of it all — an alien who is considerably less impressed by his own existence than the humans around him.
GEEK CULTURE ON THE ROAD
Paul Turns a UFO Pilgrimage Into the Real Deal
The film has fun with decades of science-fiction culture while keeping its story rooted in a straightforward road-movie structure.
Graeme and Clive begin their journey as tourists visiting places associated with aliens and UFO mythology. Meeting Paul suddenly turns those interests into reality.
That contrast drives much of the comedy: the men who desperately wanted to believe discover that the truth is stranger, ruder and considerably more troublesome than the fiction they love.