This Week at the Movies

For the second weekend in a row, cinematic aliens invaded Earth, albeit in a kinder, gentler manner, while Matthew McConaughey did some good old fashioned lawyerin’.

Following on the heels of last week’s abysmal “Battle: Los Angeles,” Greg Mottola’s “Paul” has more in common with “Mac and Me” - but with a foul-mouthed alien voiced by Seth Rogen – than the onslaught of extraterrestrial invasion films littering cinemas this year that includes “Super 8,” “Transformers: Dark of the Moon,” “Cowboys and Aliens,” “The Thing” and “The Darkest Hour.”

“Paul,” written by “Shaun of the Dead” and “Hot Fuzz” scribes Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, is a buddy road movie following two British comic book fans (again, Pegg and Frost) as they trek across the United States to visit famous sites of alleged alien landings.

There’s a certain sweetness to the pal’s friendship and the film’s celebration of their geekness is charming, rather than obnoxious. Along the way, the duo picks up a one-eyed woman (Kristen Wiig), who is fleeing her religious fundamentalist father, as well as the titular alien.

The trio, pursued by a pair of bumbling police officers and a “Men in Black” type played by Jason Bateman, decides to help their extraterrestrial pal reach a spot in Wyoming at which he can be beamed back to his home. Hilarity occasionally ensues.

The film is likeable and its tweaks at fandom are mostly gentle. But the picture runs on lower energy than Pegg and Frost’s previous collaboration, the antic “Hot Fuzz,” and is more likely to make you smile in recognition of its numerous homages than bust a gut.

Slightly more abrasive than Rogen’s alien is McConaughey’s sleazeball attorney, Mickey Haller, in Brad Furman’s “The Lincoln Lawyer,” an old school courtroom thriller.

The film’s title refers to the Lincoln vehicle in which Haller conducts business with the dregs of society, including murderous bikers and repeat drug offenders as well as accused rapist and brute, Louis Roulet (Ryan Phillippe).

A young prostitute is sexually assaulted and viciously beaten and Roulet, with whom she was last seen, is arrested. Naturally, Haller takes the case. But from the beginning, he seems to have his doubts about his client’s innocence. His private eye pal, Frank Levin (William H. Macy), helps him dig for clues.

“The Lincoln Lawyer” piles and piles on the plot twists – perhaps, a few too many. But the film’s cast, which includes Marisa Tomei, Josh Lucas and Michael Pena, is capable and the story moves along at a clip. A few of the reveals on the witness stand may induce eye rolling but, overall, the picture is a serviceable addition to its genre.