Yes, I’m saying it- Paul was the 3rd most talented Beatle. The proper ranking is:
1) George
2) John
3) Paul
4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 – 1,385,342) Random people that have played Beatles Rock Band
1,385,343) Ringo
Unless it’s ranking them at playing a conductor, in which case Ringo is a solid #1. He was even better than George Carlin at that.
All that aside, I saw the movie Paul Saturday night. I had two shows to do, and was first up on the first show and last up on the second. Knowing that would be about a 2 1/2 hour wait, I told some jokes, walked to the Arclight in Pasadena, saw Paul, and then walked back in time to tell jokes to 11 people. I selected Paul largely because it was about to start when I got there. And well, I suppose it met my expectations.
Simon Pegg is great, and so is the chubby dude whose name I can’t remember that’s always his best friend in his movies. The best parts of the movie are the nerd jokes, though I would have appreciated more *jokes* about nerds instead of just showing nerds and having the mere fact that they exist be the source of humor. I liked Jeffery Tambour’s cameo as an annoyed sci-fi author- it was reminiscent of the last funny sketch SNL ever had, where William Shatner yelled at the nerds at a Star Trek convention.
Once the Seth Rogan alien shows up, it turns into a somewhat conventional road trip movie, albeit one with a CGI alien pothead. They pick up a Jesus freak along the way, and that’s where it sort of falls apart. The subplot involving her and her father seems really forced, and led to just random redneck stereotype jokes. I think another rewrite would have done the movie good. The other problem is with the goofball government agents- they start off as harmless goofs, yet at one point start a gunfight with their fellow agent and the Jesus freak father. Taking a shot at someone’s face at close range doesn’t seem consistent with a guy that would play hide and seek using a saguaro for cover. Jason Bateman is good, and Sigourney Weaver does a nice job, though having it be a big reveal that it’s her is sort of silly, when you can recognize her voice the first time you hear it.
Overall it’s not terrible, but not particularly great, either. So if you see it come on HBO in 3 months and the Dodgers aren’t playing, tune in and see if you like it.
For those of you that need a numerical score for a review, on a scale of 1 to 100, I give it an Ultimate Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything. And if you don’t get that, read more Douglas Adams or ask a mouse.