PAUL

CAROLINE: Paul is a new comedy from the British guys who wrote Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, and it’s directed by Greg Mottola, who made Superbad.

RYAN: It’s animated, right?

CAROLINE: Seriously? Honey, have you even watched the trailer? The alien Paul is animated, but everything else is live-action. Get it together.

RYAN: Sorry. I didn’t get to see this with you, but it looks really funny, and I was sad to miss it.

CAROLINE: I wish it were really funny. Honestly, it kind of bored me after a while.

RYAN: That’s a bummer.

CAROLINE: I might have been in the minority though because the audience seemed to be enjoying it. It’s also a little bit of a boy movie – lots of juvenile humor, fart jokes, pot jokes, etc. But all in a very rated R way, so it’s funnier. I just thought the movie would be hilarious and clever, but it was more mildly amusing.

RYAN: How was the cast?

CAROLINE: The British guys, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, are fine. Woefully unattractive, but fine. And then it’s got a bevy of people we love – Kristen Wiig, Jason Bateman, Bill Hader and Jane Lynch in a small role. And the voice of Paul is Seth Rogen.

RYAN: How’s Wiig? I adore her.

CAROLINE: She’s fine, but her character is this religious chick who has to change her whole belief system when she meets Paul, and her transformation just isn’t that funny. She curses for for the first time and it becomes a running gag, but her lines aren’t that great. They could have done more with it.

RYAN: How’s Seth as the alien?

CAROLINE: He’s actually great. It’s the perfect role for him, since Paul is a bit of a rebel who smokes pot, gets in trouble, etc. And the special effects were great. They did an amazing job of seamlessly working Paul into the scenes. You couldn’t even tell he was animated half the time. That was definitely impressive.

RYAN: So is it a spoof movie like Shaun of the Dead spoofed zombie movies?

CAROLINE: Yeah, kind of. But sci-fi and aliens aren’t really my thing, so maybe that’s why I wasn’t as into it. Some of the gags are OK, but based on the people behind the film, I thought I’d be LOL’ing throughout. Instead, I chuckled 3 or 4 times. It’s not awful, but it wasn’t as good as I thought it would be, especially with this cast.

RYAN: I guess I’ll be saving my 13 bucks then!

— BOTTOM LINE —

CAROLINE: I was hoping to love this movie, or at least be highly entertained, but I wasn’t. It’s funny and cute in parts, well cast and well acted, but it never made me laugh like I hoped. Having said that, my husband loved it and was highly amused, so maybe it’s more of a guy movie.

— RATING —