Sometimes in life, you really want a Sundae.  The ice cream, the chocolate sauce, the whipped cream. That pitch perfect combination.  But then you look in your fridge, discover all you have is ice cream, and you eat it anyway.

Sure, it’s delicious, but it’s not exactly what you wanted. And despite the fact that it’s good, it just doesn’t feel right. And that right there is how I felt about Paul.

Returning the duo who brought Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz to the top in film geek libraries nationwide, this is the first collaboration between Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in four years.  And since their good buddy Edgar Wright was busy filming some movie called Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, they enlisted Greg Motolla, helmer of the great flicks Superbad and Adventureland.  This however, might just be why the movie misses the sweet spot of Shaun and Fuzz.

Ostensibly a very foul-mouthed adult version of ET, Paul is the tale of two British sci-fi nerds, illustrator Graeme Willy (Pegg) and author Clive Gollings (Frost) who come to america for San Diego Comic Con and then embark on a journey of the United States greatest alien hotspots.  One thing leads to another, and they suddenly find themselves meeting the titular Paul, a space alien who escaped the constraints of the United States Government.

Quickly, the plot turns into a madcap road film, with Graeme, Clive and Paul riding through the United States, trying to escape the possible clutches of Special Agent Zoil (Jason Bateman) and his lunkheaded cohorts, Agents Haggard and O’Reilly (Bill Hader and Joe Lo Truglio).  In addition, Kristen Wig pops up as a very religious love interest for Graeme, who only adds to the mayhem in store for the gang.

So how is the film? Given the cast, it’s not hard to understand that it’s basically a very enjoyable watch, but it did leave me wondering how much of Shaun and Hot Fuzz' success was due to the skilled hands of Edgar Wright.  As he handled both directing and co-writing credits on those films, the lack of his fingerprints on this project might be just the missing touch on this film.  In no way a bad evening at the movies, there just isn’t that polish on the script, or push forward in direction that you normally see in a Pegg & Frost vehicle.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that there were some odd leaps in storytelling (like Bill Hader’s character making a sudden change of heart, and Bateman’s character also having a surprise revelation), but I almost wonder if this is less due to poor screenwriting, but instead unclear editing.

At the end of the day, Paul is a really enjoyable, light comedy. The CG work for Paul is fantastic, the cast brings everything you love about them to the screen, and I did leave the theater with a smile.  But you can’t help asking yourself - couldn’t it have been better?

All and all, I say, grab a matinee.