Quick Review: Paul

Another example of a movie that started out slowly and then grew on me as it went on is "Paul." It starts out with Graeme and Clive (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who've done this before in "Shaun of the Dead" and "Hot Fuzz") coming from Britain to the US to attend the San Diego Comic-Con, and then take a road trip in a rented RV to sites of famous alien encounters such as Area 51. On the trip they have a run in with a couple of homophobic rednecks -- the running joke is that everyone thinks they're a couple -- at a diner (Jane Lynch makes a great waitress),  and then witness a car crash where they meet Paul, a real live alien...well, animated, with Seth Rogen's voice. Paul is escaping from the government agency that's been keeping him around since 1947, when his ship crashed on Earth, and needs help getting to the rendezvous point where he's to be picked up by a rescue ship. At a trailer park they meet Ruth (Kristen Wiig) who runs the place along with her father. They're devout Christians to the point where they don't believe in evolution -- or aliens. This is a problem when Ruth sees Paul, and Graeme and Clive end up taking Ruth along for the ride lest she alert the authorities. The beginning, with all the comic-book stuff and the rednecks, was too obvious and cliched, and the running gag about Graeme and Clive being a couple irritated me. But it's well-acted, and as the movie got into the chase aspect (Jason Bateman, as the lead agent trying to track down Paul, and Sigourney Weaver, as his superior, are excellent), and as Ruth, now questioning everything she believed since she now knows aliens are real, starts to let loose, the humor begins to shine. Lots of nods to sci-fi of all kinds, especially Steven Spielberg (who has a cameo). My grade: B.