Parents' Guide to

Paul

By Jeffrey Anderson, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 17+

Cheerfully dumb sci-fi comedy has sex, drug humor.

Movie R 2011 104 minutes
Paul Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

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age 14+

Based on 33 parent reviews

emcats24
emcats24 Adult
July 13, 2022
age 13+
Sweet, funny, we've watched this one many times over the years with our teens and have enjoyed the lightheartedness of the comedy. Yes, there's language and references to drugs and jokes about sex, but this is a comedy after all.
1 person found this helpful.
DinoLover4242
DinoLover4242 Parent of 7-year-old
March 22, 2022
age 18+

Not a kids movie!

Very inappropriate and terrible. Don't recommend this to kids, as it has lots of drugs, sex, nudity, and profanity.

This title has:

Too much violence
Too much sex
Too much swearing
Too much drinking/drugs/smoking
1 person found this helpful.
See all 33 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Visiting the United States for the first time, Brits Graeme (Simon Pegg) and Clive (Nick Frost) are on a geek tour of comic book conventions and alien landing sites. While on the road, they crash their Winnebago into a car and meet the laid-back Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen), an escaped alien. If Paul doesn't meet his ship by a certain time, U.S. agents will certainly kill him -- so the two nerds must break out of their comfort zone to help. Along the way, they "kidnap" Ruth Buggs (Kristen Wiig), who works at a trailer park, and any number of threatening characters, secret agents, and oddballs join in the chase. Can Paul make it in time?

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (33):
Kids say (87):

Pegg and Frost wrote PAUL's screenplay, and after the sharpness of their first two outings -- Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz -- it feels a bit soft and sludgy, like it was deliberately dumbed down. Likewise, director Greg Mottola, whose previous movies Superbad and Adventureland were examples of emotional maturity combined with comic depravity, doesn't quite reach the level of his earlier work.

But Paul has a genuine sweetness and a relaxed quality that eventually works, even though it doesn't quite live up to its potential. The "shock" humor slowly smoothes itself out and meshes into the laid-back quality of the story, helped by the sheer presence of the cast. (Sigourney Weaver provides some memorable bite, as well as a bit of sci-fi history, as a mysterious government figure.) It could have been quite a bit more, but at least it's charming.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about the alien, Paul. It seems like he understands the secret of life, but he also smokes cigarettes and pot, drinks, swears, and behaves badly. What kind of a role model is he? Do you think we're meant to see him positively or negatively?

  • Do you consider this kind of comedy "over the top"? Why? What other movies and TV shows have a similar comedy style? Do you think there's danger here if a viewer doesn't understand the comedy on that level?

Movie Details

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