Oh I so so so nearly loved Paul. Nearly, but not quite. It’s about two harmless British sci-fi geeks who’re attending Comic Con in San Diego (actually Albuquerque Convention Center) and then heading off on a road trip to some of the American South-West’s most iconic sci-fi sights and sites. Heading towards Roswell, New Mexico in a camper van, they inadvertently rescue a lippy alien called Paul (voiced by Seth Rogen) from some bad guys and set in motion a ridiculous, silly but smile-worthy cross country.
So Paul’s got Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, who are sweet and nerdy and sympathetic and likeable. Current it-girl Kirsten Wiig is in it too, as an odd-ball Creationist who kind of has to have a re-think, faced with the short, green body of evidence before her. Jason Bateman, Bill Hader, David Koechner, Jane Lynch are in it too and of course Seth Rogen; all it needed was Paul Rudd, Will Ferrell and Catherine Tate and it’d be a real self-congratulatory Who’s Who of trans-atlantic funny folk.
New Mexico obviously features strongly as a location; the scene where Paul goes shopping in disguise was shot on Bridge Street in Las Vegas, NM – not Las Vegas NV. I’m guessing in Las Vegas NV, Paul would’ve fit right in.