Paul

Here is a priceless bit of school holiday fun. Paul stars Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, the pair responsible for such gems as Hot Fuzz and Shaun Of The Dead. Paul is not as violent as those two and is their first US outing. It is a HUGE amount of fun from start to finish. Some may think the swearing and occasional adult humour is a bit much for kids, but I can’t remember when last my three boys (12, 10 and 8) enjoyed a movie as much. They were literally squealing with delight. Paul is an alien with attitude, who crashed to earth in 1947 after having a bit of trouble with his spaceship around Roswell. Its established early on that he really isn’t a very good driver. Graeme (Simon Pegg) and Clive (Nick Frost), English tourists, come across Paul after he has another spectacular car crash in the dessert. He convinces them to give him a ride to a destination where he can meet up with his mother ship and so a hilarious road trip ensues. I love every bit of this movie, but in particular the fun poked at fundamentalist christians. At one point Paul heals the eye of Ruth Buggs, the daughter of just such a fanatic. When she asks him how he did it, he replies: “evolution, baby….evolution!”. The movie contains many references to previous alien movies and includes a brief cameo from Steven Spielberg.