Paulie

Last updated
Paulie
Paulie poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn Roberts
Written byLaurie Craig
Produced by Mark Gordon
Gary Levinsohn
Allison Lyon Segan
Starring
Cinematography Tony Pierce-Roberts
Edited byBruce Cannon
Music by John Debney
Production
company
Distributed by DreamWorks Pictures
Release date
  • April 17, 1998 (1998-04-17)
Running time
91 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$23 million
Box office$26.9 million [1]

Paulie is a 1998 American adventure comedy-drama film directed by John Roberts and written by Laurie Craig. The film follows the adventurous story of the eponymous Paulie, a talking parrot who is capable of communicating with humans. It stars Jay Mohr as the voice of the title character, alongside Gena Rowlands, Tony Shalhoub, Cheech Marin, and Bruce Davison.

Contents

It received mixed-to-positive reviews and was a box office disappointment, grossing $26.9 million domestically against a $23 million budget. However, in the years after its release, Paulie would find a larger audience on home media sales. The film marked Buddy Hackett's last feature film appearance before his death in 2003.

Plot

While working as a janitor at an American institute, Russian immigrant Misha Vilyenkov encounters Paulie, a wisecracking and loudmouthed blue-crowned conure who can speak as clearly as a human. Subsequently, he doesn't speak a word when Misha brings Dr. Reingold, the head of the institute, and other scientists to witness him.

Frustrated with Paulie at first, Misha relents and opens up about his homesickness. Paulie warms up to Misha, and he tells him his story about his original owner, a little girl named Marie who stutters. The story transitions to a flashback when he was gifted to her in his infancy. As Marie works on speech therapy, he begins to speak. Her father, Warren, a soldier, returns home from Vietnam and decides that Paulie is not helping her, believing their bond is disillusioning Marie's reality due to her claims of his ability to talk; Paulie never spoke to her parents out of fear towards them, and also refused to learn how to fly due to acrophobia. After a near-death experience in which she falls off the roof in an attempt to teach Paulie to fly, Warren sends him away, devastating Marie.

Paulie is passed down to various owners and eventually ends up in a pawn shop where he spends his time badmouthing the customers. One day, a shady customer named Benny shows interest in purchasing him, thinking he could profit from his speaking abilities, until widowed artist Ivy purchases him first with the intent of reforming his ill behavior after he insults her. She befriends Paulie and agrees to help him find Marie, who has moved to Los Angeles. They begin traveling using her mobile home, but when she becomes blind in the middle of their trip, Paulie decides to stay and take care of her. She eventually passes away, and Paulie, having finally learned to fly, continues his journey.

In East Los Angeles, Paulie joins a group of performing conures owned by migrant musician Ignacio, temporarily forgetting about Marie as he develops feelings for a female conure named Lupe. At one of his performances, Benny, having also moved to Los Angeles, recognizes him and attempts to purchase him from Ignacio. When Ignacio refuses, Benny makes a prank call to the police at one of his performances. As the police show up, Benny kidnaps Paulie amidst the chaos as Ignacio is arrested and presumably deported. Under Benny's influence, Paulie begins a life of crime. In a botched jewel theft, he flies down through the chimney of a house, where he gets caught by the grandson of its owner. Benny flees the scene, betraying and abandoning Paulie in the process.

Paulie is then brought to the institute, where Reingold, his employees and fellow scientists are stunned by his ability to speak to humans. They subject him to speech testing, and Reingold promises that he will be reunited with Marie once finished. Paulie overhears Reingold privately revealing that, though Marie has been found, the institute has instead hidden this information from him to keep him as their property. Realizing he's been lied to all this time, a resentful Paulie humiliates Reingold in front of his scientific peers by acting like an ordinary parrot, disrespecting him and his assistants while refusing to cooperate with more tests. He then calls out Reingold's deception, and tries to make a break for it. As a result, his wings are clipped and he is eventually imprisoned in the basement when he starts pecking the researchers.

Moved by Paulie's story, Misha decides to release him and take him to Marie. They find Marie's contact information in Reingold's office, only to be caught by him. Misha stands up to Reingold for his cruelty to Paulie and gladly resigns. They narrowly escape the institute, just after releasing the other caged animals in the testing lab. The duo reach Marie's address, and find her as a beautiful young woman unrecognizable to Paulie. After singing a song her mother sang to her as a child, Paulie realizes that she is Marie and they happily reunite. He also realizes he can fly again as his feathers have regrown. Misha prepares to depart, but Paulie and Marie offer him to stay. Misha, evidently infatuated with Marie, decides to accept. The film ends with the trio happily entering her house.

Cast

Production

Directed by John Roberts and written by Laurie Craig, the film's production budget was $23 million. [2]

Craig mentioned in an interview, "Paulie was an original story of mine.  I was inspired by seeing a lone parrot in a cage and I wondered what it would be like if he could actually tell me his life story.  Then I read about the amazing African Grey parrot named Alex who had a large vocabulary and was very bonded with his researcher." [3]

During the production of the film, 14 trained blue-crowned conures were used to portray the titular character, with other conure species such as nanday, jenday and cherry-headed conures appearing in supporting roles. [4]

Exterior shots of young Marie's house were filmed in Azusa, CA, on the corner of N. Soldano Ave. and Sixth St. Unfortunately, the house was demolished a couple of years after production, and the lot was split up for smaller homes. The production team mailed thank you letters to the residents along the street for the inconvenience.

Reception

Box office

Box office receipts grossed $5,369,800 on the opening weekend, and $26,875,268 total. [5] It was released in 1,812 North American theaters. [2]

Critical response

The film scored a 62% approval rating at Rotten Tomatoes from 37 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. [6] It was distributed in 24 countries and 10 different languages between 1998 and 1999.[ citation needed ]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Times gave the film two stars out of four and said, "Dogs and cats, horses and monkeys and even bears make charismatic movie stars, but "Paulie", I think, suggests that birds are more decorative than dramatic." [7] Tracey Moore of Common Sense Media gave the film a four stars out of five and said, "Talking bird on a coming-of-age journey with some peril." [8]

Awards and nominations

AwardCategoryResult
ALMA AwardOutstanding Actor in a Feature Film - Cheech MarinNominated
ALMA AwardOutstanding Actress in a Feature Film - Trini AlvaradoNominated
British Academy Children's Awards Best Children's Feature Film Won
Bronze GryphonEarly Screens - John RobertsWon
Young Artist Award Best family feature - ComedyNominated
Young Artist AwardBest performance in a feature film - Young Actress aged ten or under - Hallie Kate EisenbergNominated
Young Artist AwardBest performance by a young actress in a comedy film - Hallie Kate EisenbergNominated

Related Research Articles

<i>Rocky V</i> 1990 American film

Rocky V is a 1990 American sports drama film directed by John G. Avildsen and written by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the sequel to Rocky IV (1985) and the fifth installment in the Rocky film series. It also stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Sage Stallone in his film debut, Tommy Morrison, and Burgess Meredith. In the film, a financially struggling Rocky Balboa (Stallone) agrees to train protégé Tommy Gunn (Morrison) at the gym once owned by Balboa's trainer, Mickey Goldmill (Meredith).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conure</span> Group of small to medium-sized parrots

Conures are a diverse, loosely defined group of small to medium-sized parrots. They belong to several genera within a long-tailed group of the New World parrot subfamily Arinae. The term "conure" is used primarily in bird keeping, though it has appeared in some scientific journals. The American Ornithologists' Union uses the generic term parakeet for all species elsewhere called conure, though Joseph Forshaw, a prominent Australian ornithologist, uses conure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tony Shalhoub</span> American actor (born 1953)

Anthony Marc Shalhoub is an American actor. His breakout role was as Antonio Scarpacci on the sitcom Wings from 1991 to 1997. He later starred as Adrian Monk in the USA Network series Monk from 2002 to 2009, earning three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. For his supporting role as Abe Weissman on Amazon's The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, he won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jay Mohr</span> American actor and comedian (born 1970)

Jon Ferguson "Jay" Mohr is an American actor, stand-up comedian, writer, and radio host. He is known for playing film producer Peter Dragon in the TV comedy series Action in 1999, Professor Rick Payne in the TV series Ghost Whisperer from 2006 to 2008 and the title role in the CBS sitcom Gary Unmarried from 2008 to 2010. He was a featured cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live from 1993 to 1995.

<i>Bad Education</i> (2004 film) 2004 Spanish film directed by Pedro Almodóvar

Bad Education is a 2004 Spanish drama film written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar. Starring Gael García Bernal, Fele Martínez, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Lluís Homar and Francisco Boira, the film focuses on two reunited childhood friends and lovers caught up in a stylized murder mystery. The metafictional film uses a deeply-nested narrative plot structure to explore themes of transsexuality, drug use, rape, and sexual abuse by Catholic priests. The film received an NC-17 rating in the United States for its depiction of homosexual sex.

Hallie Kate Eisenberg is an American former child actress, best known for being "The Pepsi Girl" in a series of Pepsi commercials, as Marie Alweather in Paulie, and her role as Erika "Erk" Tansy in How to Eat Fried Worms.

<i>The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill</i> 2003 American film

The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill is a 2003 documentary film directed, produced, and edited by Judy Irving. It chronicles the relationship between Mark Bittner, an unemployed musician who lives rent-free in a cabin in the Telegraph Hill-neighborhood of San Francisco, and a flock of feral parrots that he feeds and looks after. Bittner also wrote a memoir about his experiences with the parrots, which shares the title of the documentary, but has the added subtitle: A Love Story...with Wings.

<i>Mafia!</i> 1998 American film

Mafia!, also known as Jane Austen's Mafia!, is a 1998 American crime comedy film directed by Jim Abrahams and starring Jay Mohr, Lloyd Bridges, Olympia Dukakis and Christina Applegate.

"Two Tonys" is the 53rd episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the first of the show's fifth season. Written by David Chase and Terence Winter, it was directed by Tim Van Patten and originally aired on March 7, 2004.

"Mayham" is the 68th episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the third of the show's sixth season. Written by Matthew Weiner and directed by Jack Bender, it originally aired on March 26, 2006.

<i>1408</i> (film) 2007 film by Mikael Håfström

1408 is a 2007 American psychological horror film based on Stephen King's 1999 short story of the same name. It was directed by Mikael Håfström, written by Matt Greenberg, Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, and stars John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson.

"Live Free or Die" is the 71st episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the sixth of the show's sixth season. Written by David Chase, Terence Winter, Robin Green, and Mitchell Burgess, and directed by Tim Van Patten, it originally aired on April 16, 2006.

"Whitecaps" is the 52nd episode of the HBO television series The Sopranos, and the 13th and final episode of the show's fourth season. Written by the series creator/executive producer David Chase, and executive producers Robin Green, and Mitchell Burgess, it was directed by longtime series director John Patterson and originally aired in the United States on December 8, 2002. The episode attracted 12.5 million viewers and is regarded by many critics as one of the series' best.

"Mergers and Acquisitions" is the 47th episode of the HBO original series The Sopranos and the eighth of the show's fourth season. Its teleplay was written by Lawrence Konner from a story by David Chase, Robin Green, Mitchell Burgess, and Terence Winter. It was directed by Dan Attias and originally aired on November 3, 2002.

<i>The Groomsmen</i> 2006 film

The Groomsmen is a 2006 comedy film written and directed by Edward Burns. It opened in New York City and Los Angeles on July 14, 2006. Filming took place at many locations on City Island, New York.

<i>Spy Kids</i> (film) 2001 film by Robert Rodriguez

Spy Kids is a 2001 American spy action comedy film co-produced, written, edited, co-composed, and directed by Robert Rodriguez. The film stars Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara, Danny Trejo, Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino, Alan Cumming, Teri Hatcher, Cheech Marin, Robert Patrick, and Tony Shalhoub.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sun conure</span> Species of bird

The sun conure, also known as the sun parakeet, is a medium-sized, vibrantly colored parrot native to northeastern South America. The adult male and female are similar in appearance, with black beaks, predominantly golden-yellow plumage, orange-flushed underparts and face, and green and blue-tipped wings and tails. Sun conures are very social birds, typically living in flocks. They form monogamous pairs for reproduction, and nest in palm cavities in the tropics. Sun conures mainly feed on fruits, flowers, berries, blossoms, seeds, nuts, and insects. Conures are commonly bred and kept in aviculture and may live up to 30 years. This species is currently threatened by loss of habitat and trapping for plumage or the pet trade. Sun conures are now listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Over 21 is a 1945 American comedy film directed by Charles Vidor and starring Irene Dunne, Alexander Knox and Charles Coburn.

<i>The Lucky Stiff</i> 1949 film by Lewis R. Foster

The Lucky Stiff is a 1949 American comedy crime film directed by Lewis R. Foster, starring Dorothy Lamour, Brian Donlevy, and Claire Trevor. The film is based on the 1945 novel of the same name by Craig Rice.

References

  1. ↑ "Box Office Mojo". IMDB.com. 2015. Retrieved 2015-04-23.
  2. 1 2 "PAULIE". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
  3. ↑ Rodrz, Gaby (2015-06-26). "Interview with Laurie Craig; scriptwriter for Paulie (1998)". SoundCinemas (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  4. ↑ "Paulie (1998)". Humane Hollywood. Retrieved 4 January 2023.
  5. ↑ "Angels Stays Aloft in Top Spot". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2012-07-08.
  6. ↑ "Paulie". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media. 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
  7. ↑ Ebert, Roger (April 17, 1998). "Paulie movie review (1998)" . Retrieved October 3, 2023.
  8. ↑ "Paulie - Movie Review". June 20, 2023. Retrieved October 3, 2023.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.