I adore Shaun of the Dead, found Hot Fuzz more than a little tedious, but I was still very much looking forward to Simon Pegg and Nick Frost re-teaming once again, this time for the big sci-fi blockbuster “Paul,” which hits U.S. theatres March 18th. Because the film hits British theatres later this month, reviews are already starting to pour in and now my enthusiasm has cooled some. Really guys? Southerners and Christians? Needless to say, I expected something a little more creative and original than some lazy, cliched Kevin Smith-style of satire with about as much edge as a tuna sandwich.
Below is a review round-up for what’s looking like a left-wing, atheist polemic disguised as escapist comedy so that Pegg and Frost can get their bigotry on and line us up for a series of sucker-punch cheap shots. Unlike Monty Python, present-day “satirists” are too ignorant and mean-spirited to mock us with the kind of intelligence and affection we can appreciate, so it’s unlikely we’re looking forward to a couple hours of laughing at ourselves here. “Paul” might well be the rare exception, but somehow I doubt it. Either way, it’s always good to know what you’re walking into, what you’re laying down your hard-earned money for. So here’s the heads up.
Bottom line: my guess is that the jokes will be less insulting than the “satiric” laziness involved in choosing the easiest, safest targets imaginable. And there’s simply nothing duller than an evangelical atheist.
i09:
The bromance between Pegg and Frost is as great as ever, but the addition of a fundamentalist Christian woman (played by Kristin Wiig) dilutes their dynamic a bit. The film doesn’t entirely succeed as a fun road-trip comedy or a jaunty science fiction adventure comedy, and some of the jabs at Christianity may piss off Christian audiences.Apparently Wiig’s character has a sort of anti-religious awakening, in which she rejects Christianity and learns to swear, and this is most likely the most controversial aspect of an otherwise standard comedy. At one point, Paul the alien says, “My existence doesn’t necessarily disprove religion: just all Judaeo-Christian denominations.”
Men in black, rednecks and fundamental Christians are the main heavies that get in the way of their plans. … Christianity gets in the neck, which could hurt Bible-belt box office[.]
[A]n alien who has escaped from Area 51 and is looking to return to his home planet via a pick-up point all the way over on the East Coast. Paul hitches a ride in the boys’ RV as they make their way cross-country, whilst dodging FBI agents, religious fundamentalists and crazed hillbillies.
The best and the worst, however, comes with the introduction of Bible belt babe Ruth Buggs (Kristen Wiig), who the trio liberate from her devout and overbearing father in a trailer park somewhere in the deep south. What she brings in the comedy stakes is a risque series of attacks on Christianity that will be as unpopular among some sector of American audiences (Paul: “My existence doesn’t necessarily disprove religion: just all Judaeo-Christian denominations”) as it is popular among sci-fi fans and atheists (I challenge anyone not to laugh at the ‘Evolve this’ t-shirt).
The sub plot involving her anti-religious awakening and the unwavering faith of her father will undoubtedly result in some misguided controversy but despite this critical undercurrent the handling of the religious themes never comes across as mean spirited. The inclusion of this in the script also seems like an obvious choice considering the religious fervour that has risen in popular American culture recently and it feels like a natural part of the ‘Brits in America’ side to the film. The pair also touch on another aspect of the US as seen from a foreign perspective with references to US gun control but like the religious themes this really is mostly surface level and it never ventures into serious satire.
Things start to plod a little by three quarters of the way through though, and I wasn’t a fan of the instances of religious bickering and bitching either – not that I’m at all pious, it just all felt a bit awkward and tonally out of place.
For those of you who want to argue the film industry is purely profit-driven and not ideological… The comments are open!
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