Line #104 Film/Paul


1	[[quoteright:305:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/paul_2011_film.jpg]]
2
3	->'''Graeme:''' What's the matter, Clive?\
4	'''Clive:''' There's an alien in the kitchenette making bagels and coffee!\
5	'''Graeme:''' Did you want tea?
6
7	''Paul'' is a 2011 science fiction comedy film directed by Greg Mottola, starring Creator/SimonPegg and Creator/NickFrost (who also wrote the screenplay) as a couple of [[HeterosexualLifePartners best friends]] and fellow sci-fi geeks whose pilgrimage takes them to America's UFO heartland. While there, they accidentally meet an alien who brings them on an insane road trip that alters their universe forever.
8
9	For the past sixty years, an alien named Paul (voiced by Creator/SethRogen) has been hanging out at a [[Area51 top-secret military base]] in the southwestern U.S. For reasons unknown, the space-traveling smart-aleck decides to escape the compound and hop on the first vehicle out of town—a rented RV containing Earthlings Graeme Willy (Pegg) and Clive Gollings (Frost), two British geeks on their way to a comic convention. Chased by a trio of [[TheMenInBlack federal agents]] (Creator/BillHader, Creator/JasonBateman and Creator/JoeLoTruglio) and the fanatical father (Creator/JohnCarrollLynch) of the one-eyed young [[ReligiousStereotype fundamentalist Christian]] woman (Creator/KristenWiig) whom they [[AccidentalKidnapping accidentally kidnap]], Graeme and Clive hatch a fumbling escape plan to return Paul to his mother ship. And as two nerds struggle to help, one [[TheGreys little grey man]] might just take his fellow outcasts from misfits to intergalactic heroes.
10
11	----
12	!!''Paul'' provides examples of:
13	* ActorAllusion: [[spoiler: Creator/SigourneyWeaver]] [[Franchise/{{Alien}} is once again out to destroy alien creatures]].
14	* AffectionateNickname: Graeme calls Clive "Sausage", who calls him "Eggy" (although Clive would rather not be called that in front of Paul).
15	* AffectionateParody: Of every alien contact movie ever. Simultaneously. There's also a loving take on conventions and nerddom in general.
16	* AlienAutopsy:
17	** It's what Big Guy wants to do to Paul.
18	** In the Unrated version, there's a fake one at [=ComicCon=].
19	* AnAlienNamedBob: The titular character is an alien. Justified because Tara named him after her dog after he accidentally killed him.
20	* AliensSpeakingEnglish: [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] and mocked when Graeme asks Paul if he has [[TranslatorMicrobes some sort of magic translation thing]] going on. Also, [[JustifiedTrope justified]], in that Paul has been living here for 60 years or so, more than enough time to learn to speak English fluently.
21	-->'''Paul:''' Actually, I'm speaking English, ''you fucking idiot''.
22	* AmazingFreakingGrace: Ruth when she first finds out about Paul.
23	* AmusingAlien: Paul.
24	* AnalProbing:
25	** Clive, suspicious of Paul after he and Graeme first find him and take Paul along in their RV, asks Graeme, "What if we wake up and find him inserting a probe into our anus?" If he's going to probe them is the first thing Graeme asks Paul, who instantly expresses ''intense'' indignation at the stereotype.
26	--->'''Paul:''' '''''WHY''''' does everyone always assume that?! What am I doing?! Am I harvesting ''farts?! How much can I learn from an ass?!''
27	** On Twitter, Creator/SimonPegg mentioned that they did consider doing a joke about anal probing and repressed memories (of sexual abuse), but they ditched it because a) they couldn't find a punchline, and b) they felt that [[DudeNotFunny it might actually be true and not funny]].
28	** Turns out those two rednecks are deathly afraid of homosexuality, and in their opinion, anal probing counts as such.
29	* ArtisticLicenseReligion: Paul claims (and the film takes it as a given) that his existence disproves the concept of the "Abrahamic Judeo-Christian God." While there are fundamentalists who agree with this, many theists from said religions would say that "the Abrahamic religions and aliens being mutually exclusive" is not even ''close'' to a universally accepted idea. But that is irrelevant, because Ruth and her father are the type of fundamentalists that do find these mutually exclusive; they are just two fundamentalists, not every fundamentalist.
30	* AscendedFanboy: Both Clive and Graeme are massive ScienceFiction nerds who wind up befriending an alien and being caught in their own wacky sci-fi adventure.
31	* AudibleSharpness: The sword that Clive tries out at Comic Con.
32	* AuthorAppeal: Nick Frost and the American South. Much of the film's Southern elements came from his interest in the area.
33	* BackFromTheDead: Paul brings a dead bird back to life... then promptly eats it, citing his unwillingness to eat a dead bird. [[spoiler:Occurs later in the film when he saves Graeme from a fatal gunshot wound to a heart -- and technically, himself as well.]]
34	* BaitTheDog: [[spoiler:Agent Haggard. He doesn't seem like much of a villain at first, especially being played by Bill Hader, and the audience would probably assume that both members of the wacky agent duo would either end up helping Paul in the end or would meet harmless comedic fates. This changes when we see Haggard (apparently) killing Ruth's father in cold blood.]]
35	* BerserkButton: While Paul is usually a go-with-the-flow kind of guy, he loses his cool when Ruth starts espousing her Creationist beliefs. The debate gets so heated, he comes out of the bathroom to reveal himself just to make a point.
36	* BigBad: The Big Guy.
37	* BookEnds: The movie begins and ends at the San Diego [=ComicCon=], first as attendees, [[spoiler: then as invited guests]].
38	* BreakTheBeliever: When Paul telepathically shares his knowledge of the universe with Ruth, she is shaken at first that is disproves her Christian faith. She then goes crazy trying to catch up on a whole lifetime of sinning and cursing (she does the latter very poorly at first).
39	* BrickJoke:
40	** When Paul first meets Clive and Graeme, Clive faints and Graeme assumes Paul made it happen somehow, but Paul assures him he didn't. Later, when Ruth meets Paul the first time and faints:
41	--->'''Graeme:''' What'd you do that for?\
42	'''Paul:''' She fainted! We've been over this!
43	** "You'll know it when you see it." It immediately cuts to a ratty-looking trailer park, with Paul saying that looks like a good place to stop, making you think this is the answer to the question. It turns out later he meant [[spoiler:Devil's Tower]].
44	** Clive mentions having had sex with someone dressed as an Ewok. [[spoiler:Said Ewok shows up at the end.]]
45	** Paul warns Clive that the swords he wants to buy throughout the film will break when he first tries to use them. When he does, well... "False economy, I told you."
46	* BringMyBrownPants: Clive wets himself upon first sight of Paul.
47	* CallBack: "I changed my mind. That is Jenga."
48	* TheCameo: Creator/StevenSpielberg AsHimself (well, his voice anyway).
49	* TheCastShowOff: Say, did you know that [[spoiler: Creator/SigourneyWeaver]] is a Black-Belt in Goju-Ryu Karate? You'll get to see her prove it by beating the living daylights of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in high-heels and a cocktail dress.
50	* ChekhovsGun:
51	** Subverted with Clive's sword. [[spoiler:It breaks when he tries to use it on the Big Guy.]]
52	** Played straight to a lesser extent with the sketch Graeme does of Paul.
53	* ChekhovsSkill:
54	** All of Paul's special powers come in handy, even the "transfers grievous wounds" thing.
55	** Also, to a lesser extent, Graeme and Clive being able to speak Klingon. Near the end, Clive uses it to tell Graeme [[spoiler:to punch the unsuspecting Big Guy]].
56	* ClusterFBomb: All over the place. There's an actual RunningGag that Ruth swears '''a lot'''.
57	* ComedicSociopathy: Paul, usually, ranging from reviving (then eating) a dead bird to scaring the Christ out of rednecks.
58	* ContrivedCoincidence: The gang runs into a pair of scary hillbillies in Rachel, NV, and then runs into the exact same scary hillbillies a couple of days later hundreds of miles away at a bar in Wyoming. Then Ruth meets her father at the same bar. If you pay close attention, you see the pickup truck pass by our heroes.
59	* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: [[spoiler:You might think that Haggard and O'Reilly are just a couple of mooks working for the Big Guy, but they're not federal agents for nothing. Haggard is really on the ball, suspecting there's more to Zoil than he's letting on, and follows his trail after tapping into his own communications with the Big Guy.]]
60	* TheConspiracy: [[spoiler:Subverted that, in the end, the real conspiracy is Zoil is actually trying to ''help'' Paul escape from the Big Guy all along.]]
61	* DarkActionGirl: The Big Guy, as shown in a fist fight that ensues.
62	* DeadpanSnarker: Paul.
63	** Zoil is no slouch in this department either.
64	---> '''Zoil''' You are aware that you're a grown man, right? You probably shave, pay taxes, have pubic hair...
65	* {{Determinator}}: Ruth's dad.
66	-->'''Paul:''' This guy doesn't quit! You kind of have to respect it.
67	* DisneyDeath: [[spoiler:Graeme, and then Paul, a few moments later]].
68	* DistantPrologue: A brief opener shows Paul's ship crashing on Earth in 1947, before we cut to the present day.
69	* TheDragon: Agent Zoil comes off as this, [[spoiler:until we find out he's helping Paul return home]].
70	* DramaticAlienVTOL: Of course. Paul even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] this, apologizing for the spaceship's awkwardly slow ascent. Subverted by the very sudden arrival of the ship.
71	* DreamworksFace: [[http://www.impawards.com/2011/paul_ver2.html One of the posters]]. Sure, Paul is supposed to be a smart AmusingAlien, but ''come on''.
72	* DrivesLikeCrazy: "Small corrections! Small corrections!"
73	* DroppedABridgeOnHim: The original Paul (A dog) meets this fate at the start of the film when alien Paul's ship crash-lands on him. [[spoiler:This foreshadows The Big Guy being killed off rather anti-climactically for comedy]].
74	* EasyEvangelism:
75	** A few minutes with Graeme (and a handy mind meld) are enough to break Ruth out of her Bible-thumping fundamentalism. Somewhat subverted, as she is clearly shocked and frightened by the sudden collapse of her entire worldview, temporarily [=BSODing=].
76	** Averted with Ruth's father, who sees [[spoiler:the alien he had previously called a demon healing Graeme and responds with "the Lord has delivered His healing hand"]].
77	* ElvisLives: {{Inverted\|Trope}}. Paul claims his government-supplied pot is so strong that it killed Music/BobDylan. The others point out that Dylan isn't dead, but Paul implies otherwise.
78	* EveryCarIsAPinto: [[spoiler:One of the agents chasing the group accidentally drives off a cliff. Paul remarks that he could still be all right... and then it explodes.]]
79	* EveryoneHasStandards: Pappa Buggs is ''horrified'' [[spoiler:when he accidentally shoots Graeme]].
80	* EvenNerdsHaveStandards: One of the goofy, nerdy Agents, upon seeing a drawing of an alien chick with three breasts in their first meeting with Graeme and Clive, suggest that they draw one with "four tits". Graeme's response is "...that's sick."
81	* ExactEavesdropping: Haggard can tell that he's being LockedOutOfTheLoop, slips in his earpiece, and hears Zoil and the Big Guy talking about important parts of the mission.
82	* ExoticEquipment: "Hey, on my planet, this is [[GagPenis small!]]"
83	* ExpositionBeam: Paul can zap people with knowledge of the universe.
84	* TheFaceless: The Big Guy is mostly heard and only shown from behind or face cropped out for a majority of the film, with only her hands shown. It’s only until the final act of the film where The Big Guy’s face is finally seen.
85	* FictionAsCoverUp: Inverted. According to Paul, the government commissioned movies about aliens in order to prepare society for FirstContact, not to make them skeptical. He was responsible for, among others, ''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind'', ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'', and ''Series/TheXFiles''.
86	* FlyingSaucer: The movie also uses the much rarer "flying cigar" UFO. The movie is [[BookEnds book-ended]] by Paul arriving and leaving on a flying saucer, which is picked up by a roughly cylendrical {{Mothership}}.
87	* TheForeignSubtitle: The Chinese title of the film translates to "We Hit an Alien!"
88	* TheFundamentalist: Ruth, [[CharacterDevelopment initially]]. She freaks out at Paul even ''after'' he explains that his existence "only disproves... one world theologies." Her dad is even worse.
89	* GenderBlenderName: The Big "Guy" is actually a woman.
90	* GenreSavvy: Paul. Justified in that he came up with most of the genre's conventions.
91	* GoodAllAlong: [[spoiler:Agent Zoil is helping Paul, not chasing him]]
92	* GildedCage: Paul spent the last 60 years or so in one. He apparently didn't even realize he was a prisoner and thought he was a guest, until [[spoiler:the Big Guy decided that Paul had outlived his usefulness and wanted to harvest his brain for stem cells]].
93	* GoshDangItToHeck: Ruth, coming from an ultra-religious background, takes a bit of time to learn how to curse properly.
94	-->'''Ruth:''' Well, ain't that a bag of tits.
95	* GroinAttack:
96	** Ruth knees a hillbilly in the crotch.
97	** The kid in a karate gi that Paul befriends also does this.
98	* HealingHands: Paul.
99	* HeroicRROD: Everything cool Paul does harms him somehow -- his ExpositionBeam makes him exhausted, he needs to hold his breath to use his invisibility which he finds difficult since he's a smoker, and his HealingHands transfer the damage onto him, depending on the size of the victim: a dead bird causes no visible effect, but humans cause a one-to-one damage transfer.
100	* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Paul's gamble to heal Graeme, which had been toted as incredibly risky and likely to kill him. Subverted in that he ends up managing to live through it.]]
101	* HeteronormativeCrusader: Gus and Jake immediately antagonize Graeme and Clive because of their accents and for being HeterosexualLifePartners, calling them "faggots". Odds are this contributed to their fear of the sudden threat of AnalProbing.
102	* HeterosexualLifePartners: Mentioned through the whole movie. Even the alien Paul, mentions it at one point.
103	* HiddenDepths: Agent Zoil seems like the kind of obsessive authoritarian InspectorJavert-type who's eventually going to snap and go rogue in his determination to catch and destroy our heroes, while his two underlings seem like the more comic-relief ReasonableAuthorityFigure types destined to do a HeelFaceTurn. [[spoiler: Turns out, they're actually the other way around; Zoil is actually Paul's friend and ally, while the other two are a lot more dangerous than they first appear.]]
104	* HistoricalInJoke: Paul is responsible for many of recent history's sci-fi plotlines.
105	* HugAndComment: "Clive, I can feel your boner."
106	* IResembleThatRemark: Happens to Clive, right after choking Paul. It helps to know that calling someone a "spaz" in England is equivalent to calling someone a "retard" in North America.
107	-->'''Paul:''' ...so in case our species do meet, you won't have a ''fucking spaz attack''!\
108	'''Clive:''' ''I DO NOT HAVE A FUCKING SPAZ ATTACK!'' ''[starts choking Paul, ''again'']''
109	* IAteWhat: Agent Zoil dips his finger in a small puddle while hunting for Paul and tastes the liquid. He quickly spits it out upon discovering [[BrickJoke it's (Clive's) urine.]]
110	* IfJesusThenAliens: Averted with Ruth, but played straight ([[PlayedForLaughs for laughs]]) with her Father.
111	* ImpairmentShot: Ruth after she wakes up after fainting when she sees Paul.
112	* ImprobableAimingSkills: [[spoiler:Zoil]] manages to incapacitate the whole of The Big Guy's entourage with non-lethal hits.
113	* ImprovisedWeapon: The clock that Graeme hits Agent Haggard with.
114	* InnocentAliens: Paul's [[TheGreys species]] seem to be this. Paul was sent to Earth in a longterm gambit to help better acclimate humanity to the concept of life beyond their planet, using pop-culture as a medium to teach humans about them one factoid at a time until they eventually make FirstContact. Even after [[BigBad the Big Guy]] had tried to capture and kill their envoy, the aliens seem to acknowledge that this was a "lone wolf" scenario and don't take it personally, even healing her injured soldiers and allowing Tara to come with them.
115	* InvisibilityWithDrawbacks: Paul's invisibility only works if he holds his breath. Fails on him several times due to this.
116	--> '''Paul''': I gotta stop smoking!
117	* InvisibleStreaker: Paul.
118	* {{Irony}}: Paul is a man from the stars with a Biblical name who heals the sick. He's hunted by crazed Bible thumpers.
119	** An alien sci-fi flick, and the BigBad is played by none other than [[spoiler: Creator/SigourneyWeaver]]
120	*** It would have been more ironic had Pegg and Frost's original casting choice, Creator/YeardleySmith been playing the BigBad in question [[note]]The character's code name is "The Big Guy". Yeardley Smith is actually quite short.[[/note]]
121	* IShouldWriteABookAboutThis: [[spoiler: Clive and Graeme eventually write about their experience with Paul. On a lesser note, Graeme constantly sketches Paul throughout their trip.]]
122	* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: While being chased by [[spoiler: what they believe are the hicks, Gus and Jake]] Clive worries that their assailants will "...rape us and break our arms!" Graeme whimpers that he doesn't "want (his) arms broken!"
123	* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
124	** Paul is repeatedly described as being a NiceGuy but "''incredibly'' rude."
125	** So is [[spoiler:Agent Zoil]].
126	* KickingAssInAllHerFinery: [[spoiler:The Big Guy]] arrives to confront the heroes while wearing a fancy blue dress, holds them at gunpoint, and is capable of shrugging off punches and bites to the arm while decking several of her opponents.
127	* KilledMidSentence: [[spoiler: The Big Guy.]]
128	* KnownOnlyByTheirNickname: Paul. From what we hear of his language, it's probably just as well.
129	* MagicAndPowers: Paul is [[PsychicPowers psychic,]] though his abilities are limited to a touch-range ExpositionBeam, invisibility while holding his breath, and HealingHands that [[spoiler:temporarily]] damages him proportionally to the wound.
130	* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: Graeme's response to [[spoiler:being perforated by a shotgun]] is to lament that the resulting damage has ruined his favorite shirt.
131	* ManChild: Zoil calls O'Reilly out for being one, and generally looks down on the nerds and the agents he's saddled with.
132	* MeaningfulEcho:
133	** "Sometimes you just gotta roll the dice."
134	** "''That's'' Jenga."
135	* MessianicArchetype: Discussed. When Paul was discussing ideas for ''Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial'', Steven asks he had any ideas to make the alien more "messianic", Paul giving him the idea of HealingHands based off of his own EmpathicHealer abilities.
136	* TheMenInBlack: Big Guy's men. Somewhat subverted in that two of them have no idea what's going on. Used as a plot point -- when they figure it out, they think they're going to finally get promoted and start taking harsher methods that are more in line with villainous depictions of this trope.
137	* MissedHimByThatMuch: At least twice Ruth's father narrowly misses bumping right into either Ruth herself or Greame and Clive, with them being completely unaware of his presence. However he's always hot on their trail soon afterwards.
138	* MissionFromGod: Ruth's father claims this when Haggard tries to get him to back off from the pursuit.
139	* MistakenForGay: Graeme and Clive. A RunningGag throughout the film, from the hotel employee providing room service to Paul himself. It's not entirely [[HoYay unwarranted]]. Paul later confirms Clive ''is'' jealous of Graeme's new relationship with Ruth.
140	* TheMole: Paul has "someone still on the inside". [[spoiler: It's Zoil.]]
141	* MookPromotion: Haggard and O'Reilly (well, mostly Haggard) seek one by capturing Paul before Zoil can.
142	* {{Mooning}}: Paul does this to Graeme and Ruth when they're outside the RV.
143	* MostWritersAreWriters: Clive is a sci-fi writer. Graeme is his illustrator.
144	* MultiBoobage: Graeme's comic cover has a three-breasted GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe. [[RunningGag Awesome]].
145	* MushroomSamba: Ruth takes a hit of some rather strong pot. "''There are wasps in my brain!''"
146	* NerdsAreVirgins:
147	** Averted in that we find out that Clive at least has had sex (albeit with a woman dressed as an Ewok).
148	** When Ruth grabs Clive's crotch, her expression when she removes her hand implies that his... attention span... is quite short.
149	* NerdsSpeakKlingon: Naturally Graeme and Clive both speak Klingon. [[spoiler:It becomes a ChekhovsSkill when Clive uses it to tell Graeme to punch the unsuspecting [[BigBad Big Guy]].]]
150	-->'''[[TheGreys Paul]]:''' ''[after Clive wakes up and tries to choke him]'' Was that Klingon? You psychotic nerd!
151	* NoSocialSkills:
152	** Ruth, due to being raised by her [[TheFundamentalist fundamentalist father]] all her life.
153	** Grahame and Clive, being nerds, aren't good at socializing with non-nerds. "Oh no! People!"
154	* NotQuiteDead: [[spoiler:O'Reilly is caught in the explosion when Tara's house blows up, but the credits epilogue shows him at Comic-Con, still alive. He's horribly burned and wearing a ''Phantom of the Opera''-type mask.]]
155	* NotSoHarmlessVillain: [[spoiler:Agent Haggard at first appears to just be one half of a bumbling buddy cop duo and not particularly malicious or threatening. After the house explosion, however, he steals Zoil's car, apparently murders Ruth's father, and doggedly tries to kill the RV passengers in a chase scene.]]
156	* PlotDrivenBreakdown: {{Justified\|Trope}}, the RV took a bullet in its radiator just before the protagonists flee the farm house.
157	* PocketProtector: [[spoiler:Papa Buggs is saved by his BulletProofBible.]]
158	* PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: The Big Guy twice refers to nerds as faggots or fags.
159	* PreachersKid: Post-exposition-beam Ruth acts [[BadButt what she thinks is bad]] quite vigorously. The other characters coach her in the finer points of swearing.
160	* PrecisionFStrike:
161	** Ruth fails to deliver one, but when Zoil runs out of bullets, he levels a small city.
162	** Tara ends her story to Paul by saying that everyone who mocked her can "just go fuck themselves" now that she knows he has always been real.
163	* PrefersRawMeat: Paul uses his HealingHands to ''resurrect'' a dead bird, then [[BaitAndSwitch immediately eats it]], because to him, a living bird tastes better than a dead one.
164	* PreMortemOneLiner: [[spoiler: Subverted.]] Haggard's line to Ruth's dad could count as this [[spoiler: except he doesn't die]].
165	-->'''Ruth's dad:''' I'm on a mission from God!\
166	'''Haggard:''' Tell him you failed.
167	* {{Pun}}:
168	** "[[spoiler:Lorenzo Zoil]]" has to win some kind of award for sheer lameness.
169	** Clive claims his last sexual encounter, with a girl dressed as an [[Film/ReturnOfTheJedi Ewok]], was "''furry'' nice".
170	** The "Encounter Briefs" comic books count as well.
171	* PunnyName: [[spoiler: [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzos_oil Lorenzo Zoil]].]]
172	* ReligiousStereotype: Ruth and her dad. Ruth experiences EasyEvangelism via psychic powers, while her dad [[spoiler:decides that the main group isn't so bad after Paul revives Graeme.]]
173	* RoadTripPlot: [[InSpace WITH ALIENS!]]
174	* RunningGag:
175	** "[[MultiBoobage Three tits!]] ...Awesome!"
176	** "Who the hell is Adam Shadowchild?" Followed by naming [[RuleOfThree three different titles he's written,]] every time.
177	*** This also happens [[RuleOfThree three times]], and once each time the second of the three mentioned books is "Jenny Starpepper and the [something]". WordOfGod, however, states that there are in fact four Jenny Starpepper books.
178	** Graeme and Clive being MistakenForGay.
179	** People fainting when they meet Paul for the first time.
180	** "You can't WIN with these people."
181	-->'''Graeme:''' It's in the car park.\
182	'''Clive:''' I think you mean the parking lot.\
183	'''Graeme:''' ''[cowboy voice]'' Ah sure do! ''[laughter]''
184	* SerkisFolk: Paul. Most of the stand-in work was done by Joe Lo Truglio, who also plays Agent O'Reilly. Seth Rogen also did some motion capture work during pre-production.
185	* ShortRangeShotgun: Averted, as [[spoiler:Graeme is the only one hit by Pappa Buggs' shotgun, even though they were standing in a group. The shot even hits in a tight cluster on his shirt.]]
186	* ShoutOut: This movie is practically made of this trope. Think of an alien movie, it's probably in here. In terms of sheer density of nerd references, it's basically ''Series/{{Spaced}}: TheMovie''.
187	** For starters: Clive is implied to have a dog called [[Film/IndependenceDay Boomer]]. Interestingly, while in ''Film/IndependenceDay'' Boomer survives everything, the first scenes of ''Paul'' shows more cruelty towards pets.
188	*** Boomer was also the name of a character in both incarnations of ''Franchise/BattlestarGalactica''.
189	** Who has guns in England? "[[Film/HotFuzz ...farmers.]]"
190	** Zoil calls Paul "[[Film/IndianaJonesAndTheTempleOfDoom Short Round]]". The warehouse Paul spends much of his time in looks suspiciously where the Ark of the Covenant was stored in ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' and the site of the beginning of ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheKingdomOfTheCrystalSkull''.
191	** The finale contains many references to ''Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind'', including Devil's Tower, shots of people standing around and going into the spaceship, and the "Five Tones" summoning the ship. Earlier, the Five Tones play at the fireworks store.
192	** [[Film/ANewHope "Boring conversation anyway."]]
193	** The scene in the redneck bar has a live band performing the Cantina theme from Episode IV.
194	** Grahm and Clive visit KirksRock and reenact the scene.
195	** They also play virtual reality ''VideoGame/{{Prototype}}'' at San Diego [=ComicCon=].
196	** [[Film/{{Aliens}} "Get away from her, you BITCH!"]], [[spoiler:said ''to'' Creator/SigourneyWeaver]].
197	** [[Film/{{Jaws}} "Smile, you son of a bitch!"]]
198	** Paul's "healing hands" transfer if the chest wound references the glowing red dot in ET's near-death experience.
199	** [[Film/TheBluesBrothers "I'm on a mission from God!"]]
200	** [[Film/EasyRider the whole “smoking dope round the campfire” scene, with Paul in the Jack Nicholson role ]]
201	** Paul [[Film/TheKarateKid puts his palms together and rubs]] before healing.
202	** [[Film/BackToTheFuture1 "Where we're going, you won't need teeth."]]
203	** Paul also wanted some [[Film/ETTheExtraterrestrial Reese's Pieces]]. Hell, ''Paul himself'' came up with the idea for ''ET''.
204	** Three-breasted space babe, [[Film/TotalRecall1990 you say]]? Also could be a shout-out to [[Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy Eccentrica Gallumbits, the Triple-Breasted Whore of Eroticon VI]].
205	** The Big Guy refers to Paul as "[[Series/MorkAndMindy Mork]]'' at one point. He doesn't like it.
206	** Paul jokingly addresses Clive and Graeme as "WesternAnimation/RockyAndBullwinkle" after the BarBrawl.
207	** "I've dreamed of this since I was twelve, when I first saw ''Film/MacAndMe''."
208	** Graeme at one point is wearing an ''ComicBook/{{Invincible}}'' T-shirt, and later in the comic shop you can clearly see an ''Invincible'' comic behind the boy. Especially funny because not only is Invincible more geeky and non-mainstream comic than many with wider recognition, but he is also a HumanAlien.
209	** Graeme wears a [[Franchise/TheFlash Flash]] T-shirt at the beginning of the movie and much of the rest a ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'' T-shirt.
210	** At one point in the comic shop you can see a rack full of ''ComicBook/ScottPilgrim'' books. Had Edgar Wright not directed ''Film/ScottPilgrimVsTheWorld'', he would have directed ''Paul''. In addition, Creator/SimonPegg is said to be a fan of Brian Lee O'Malley.
211	** At the same comic book shop, you can see an issue of ''Comicbook/TheBoys'', a comic book by Garth Ennis, which has a character based on Simon Pegg, who also wrote the introduction of said comic's first issue.
212	** [[spoiler:When Paul "dies", he looks just like the alien in the infamous "alien autopsy" video.]]
213	** [[Film/FlightOfTheNavigator Using fireworks to signal]] [[Film/GalaxyQuest to an alien space ship]].
214	** [[Film/Titanic1997 Are you going to draw me like one of your French girls, Jack?]]
215	** Graeme says, "Oh my..." when [[spoiler:he's shot.]] These were Captain Kirk's final words.
216	** Roadside dives along the journey named [[Film/ETTheExtraTerrestrial Gerties]] and [[Film/CloseEncountersOfTheThirdKind Roy's.]]
217	** The tea line is likely a reference to the infamous ''Beadle's About'' prank, where a British housewife [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=bnxMd5e-lM0&t=119 uttered this phrase]] when confronted with an "alien" for the first time.
218	** [[Series/DoctorWho An alien meets a little girl, then years later meets her again as a grown woman, then takes her away with him.]]
219	* SirSwearsALot: Ruth becomes a very awkward and over-the-top example of this once she sheds her anal-retentive religious nature.
220	** Paul is not exactly polite with his use of language either.
221	** Adam Shadowchild only gets a couple of scenes and drops an F-bomb in both.
222	* SmallNameBigEgo: Adam Shadowchild is a parody of several sci-fi writers/artists who display that trait. He's clearly quite full of himself, but no-one who isn't a total geek has ever heard of him.
223	%%* StarringSpecialEffects
224	* StealthPun: Graeme clocks Haggard with a clock.
225	%%* SternChase: Lampshaded, too!
226	* StockScream: A Wilhelm Scream as Bill Hader drives off a cliff.
227	%%* TheStoner:
228	%%** Paul.
229	%%** Ruth attempts to be one and... fails.
230	%%** Tara says "My weed!" as her house blows up.
231	* StonersAreFunny: Ruth goes through half-a-dozen clichéd reactions to smoking pot, ending by passing out, within 30 seconds of her first hit.
232	* StrangeMindsThinkAlike: Both ThoseTwoGuys and Ruth's father have a police radio scanner that they use to eavesdrop on Zoil.
233	* StraightMan: Agent Haggard seems to be the more compentent side of himself and O'Reily. And was the one to realize Zoil is hiding something.
234	* TemptingFate: The statement "I doubt we'll ever see those guys again!" just ensures that "those guys" show up at a random bar to delay our heroes as the feds are closing in. They also give one of the agents final confirmation that they're really chasing an alien.
235	* TheyWouldCutYouUp: The reason why Paul was so urgent to escape Area51 was because they intended on dissecting him rather than allowing him to return to his home planet.
236	* ThoseTwoGuys: There are two recurring rednecks, though they're given very little screen time.
237	* ThrowingOffTheDisability: Ruth's blind eye pretty much only exists [[spoiler:so that Paul could fix it with magic. And so she could blend in easily after it's healed. It helps in throwing off Zoil, who even knows about Paul's healing power.]]
238	* TranquilFury: When [[spoiler:The Big Guy]] calls Clive a fag, he just tells Graeme, in Klingon, to punch [[spoiler:her]].
239	* ATrueStoryInMyUniverse: [[spoiler:At the end of the film, Graeme and Clive become award-winning authors by publishing their adventure with Paul.]]
240	%%* VertigoEffect: Used just before O'Reilly fires his gun in the farmhouse.
241	* WhatMeasureIsAMook: Inverted. While [[spoiler:the Big Guy is squished by the landing craft]], the three mooks by her side are all healed from [[spoiler:Zoil's]] TechnicalPacifist gunshots and allowed to live. Even the DisposablePilot is seen talking with the Alien pilot about his craft.
242	* WouldHitAGirl: Graeme punches the [[spoiler:[[BigBad Big Guy]], actually a woman,]] in the face; it's hilariously ineffective and she quickly shows she's much more badass than he is but Graeme certainly doesn't lose any audience sympathy for at least trying to deck her.

Context Film / Paul