6/10
After the English-based successes of Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost have gone to America to make a film that celebrates their nerdy love for comic books, sci fi movies and road trips, and the end product is not that bad.
Clive and Graeme are best friends; one writes comic books, the other illustrates them, but in their hearts they're fan boys which is why they've gone to America to visit Com Con (sub-cultural capital of the USA), and then to retrace the footsteps of the most famous alien-related sites in the West. Imagine their surprise when they come across a real-life alien (called Paul, voiced by Seth Rogen) who is on the run and in need of their help. Paul looks very like your average movie alien, with bug eyes like ET, though his language and general outlook is rather cruder. This may be connected to the fact that he has been on Earth for several decades, and has picked up our bad habits. The lads also take on board a one-eyed Jesus freak, and are pursued by man-in-black Jason Bateman, and a couple of incompetent FBI guys.
I don't think I have ever seen a film with more conscious film references, such as the cinema in town which is showing Easy Rider and Duel, a reference to Deliverance, gags about Spielberg movies and so on on and on. Your true movie nerd will recognise them all. But the film's success or failure is built around the relationships on screen. Pegg and Frost are a well tried team, though there is less banter than usual, but this is because they are making room for a third leg in the shape of Paul, who - fortunately - manages to hold his end up. Given that he's a CGI creation, the character is remarkably believable, though credit should also go to Rogen. Crucially you don't find yourself thinking about the technology; you just accept him as one of the gang.
The script offers numerous pokes at fairly broad targets; red neck Americans, fundamentalist Christians and government agencies, but it's all fairly light hearted and lacking in real venom. In fact, the whole film is slightly slushy, with romance, regeneration and happy endings. I liked it well enough without wanting to go and see it again any time soon, and you could do a lot worse for an evening out at the cinema. Especially if you like movies, sci fi or comics.
