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'''''Paulie''''' is a 1998 family film about a sapient parrot. More accurately a blue-crowned conure. The film was directed by John Roberts, previously known for such films as
The film starts by featuring Misha Belenkoff (Shalhoub) in his first night as the janitor at an animal testing lab. He used to be a literature teacher in Russia. Misha immigrated to the United States and has been reduced to doing menial jobs. His curiosity is
He eventually gets Paulie talking about his life story. Most of the rest of the narrative is told in flashbacks. His earliest memories find him as the pet of
The next few years of Paulie's life are not depicted. He eventually finds himself at the pawnshop of the sarcastic Artie (Hackett). The films proceeds to follow Paulie's life under later owners and his efforts to locate Marie. The first such owner is the aging artist Ivy (Rowlands). She teaches him a lot about life and putting things into perspective. But her health eventually takes a turn towards the
He ends up at the institute. Dr. Reingold (Davison) promises to help him
The film was not much of a commercial hit. It earned an estimated $26,875,268
{{tropelist}}
* [[A Boy and His X]]: A girl and her blue-crowned conure.▼
* [[Acrophobic Bird]]: Both Marie and Ivy spend time trying to teach Paulie to fly. He first has to overcome his fear of heights.
* [[Amplified Animal Aptitude]]: Paulie is constantly able to speak, learn new skills and form plans. He is surprised that the other parrots seem unable to do so, including his beloved Lupe.
* [[Animal Testing]]: The lab. Though what the tests involve remains unclear.
▲* [[A Boy and His X]]: A girl and her blue-crowned conure.
* [[Cool Pet]]: A pet that can help you with your language skills, act as a seeing dog (for Ivy), sing and dance. No wonder Paulie is loved by his various owners.
* [[Evil is Petty]]: Despite the fact the discovery of a parrot with human-like intelligence would probably be on the same level as maybe the discovery of evolution itself and shake the world, Paulie is kept on a cage on a basement for refusing to talk unless he is brought back to his original owner.
* [[Foregone Conclusion]]: Almost the entire movie is a flashback of Paulie explaining how he ended up in a cage in the basement of a scientific institute. It's obvious he will not stay with any owner for very long.
* [[Foreshadowing]]: Blink and you will miss it, but the movie starts in the-then present day (the nineties), and at the start of the flashback there is mention of the Vietnam War on the television at Marie's house. {{Spoiler|Marie is actually a mom with a daughter by the time Paulie finally meets her again, played by then thirty-year-old Trini Alvarado}}.
* [[Hey, It's That Guy!]]: Misha is played by [[Monk]]. Also, Marie is played by the "Pepsi Girl".
** There's also [[Buddy Hackett]] as Artie, the owner of the pawn shop where Paulie gets sent.
* [[Inexplicably Awesome]]: Paulie's intelligence level is clearly on the same level as a human, but there are no hints for a magical or a scientific explanation for it, though scientist do try, thankfully without trying to crack his skull open. A pretty simple explanation is that he is a mutant between his own species.
* [[Missing Trailer Scene]]: [[DreamWorks]]' Paulie, which was surprisingly somber for a film about a literal talking parrot, was [[Never Trust a Trailer|marketed as a zany comedy]] and most trailers included a scene where the parrot flies next to another parrot and quips, "Saaay, do you realize we're both naked?" Again, it's never said in the movie. ▼
* [[Life Will Kill You]]: Ivy is eventually taken down by the biggest killer.
** Another scene heavily run in the trailers had a scientist holding up a card for Paulie and saying "What is this?" Paulie responds "It's a flash card, you idiot!". It wasn't in the actual film.▼
▲* [[Missing Trailer Scene]]:
▲** Another scene heavily run in the trailers had a scientist holding up a card for Paulie and saying "What is this?" Paulie responds "It's a flash card, you idiot!"
* [[Never Trust a Trailer]]: This is not a zany comedy. Sure, there is no blood and guts, and Paulie's mouth is ready to deliver G-rated insults, but it plays with the idea of an intelligent animal for all drama the PG rating can muster, including the part where he can't even properly communicate with beings of his own kind and humans refuse to treat him as an equal.
* [[Polly Wants a Microphone]]: Paulie is a talking bird; the catch is that every ''other'' parrot in the movie ''isn't'', and most humans have difficulty believing that Paulie ''is''.
* [[Seldom-Seen Species]]: The Blue-crowned conure (Aratinga acuticaudata) is native to large parts of South America and popular pets. But they are not that often depicted in fiction.
* [[She's All Grown Up]]: {{Spoiler|Paulie has trouble realizing that his little Marie has grown into a woman. However this comes as a pleasant surprise to Misha. He is obviously attracted to her.}}
* [[Sliding Scale of Animal Communication]]: {{Spoiler|Level 4. Paulie can freely talk with people
* [[Talking Animal]]: Deconstructed with Paulie. He is able to speak and think
* [[Talking to Himself]]: Jay Mohr provides the voice of the titular parrot, as well as playing one of Paulie's owners.
* [[Tropey Come Home]]: Played with. Paulie has
* [[Whole-Episode Flashback]]: The vast majority of the film is Paulie telling his story to Belenkoff.
* [[Worthless Foreign Degree]]: Mentioned above, Belenkoff used to be a literature teacher in Russia, but reduced to a Janitor in the US.
{{reflist}}
[[Category:
[[Category:Paulie]]▼
[[Category:Film]]
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