37 lines
3.4 KiB
Plaintext
37 lines
3.4 KiB
Plaintext
ingredients : lost parrot trying to get home , friends
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synopsis : a russian janitor named misha ( tony shalhoub ) discovers a little old parrot languishing in the basement of a science research facility .
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" paulie the talking parrot " ( the voice of jay mohr ) soon regales misha with his life story .
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as a young bird paulie is raised by marie ( hallie kate eisenberg ) , a little girl with a speech impediment .
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by attending marie's speech lessons , paulie learns to act/speak like a regular person .
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unfortunately , after being unfairly blamed for an accident , paulie is taken to a pawn shop and sold .
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paulie's biggest wish is to return to marie .
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many years later , and after a succession of memorable owners ( gena rowlands , cheech marin , and jay mohr ) , paulie falls in with a bad crowd and is apprehended in los angeles trying to steal jewelry .
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he is sent to a cruel research facility , where he refuses to participate and is imprisoned the basement .
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will misha help paulie get back to marie ?
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opinion : every time people watch movies that portray animals as beings with cute human personalities , some well-meaning audience members go out next christmas or birthday and buy a dalmatian or whatever creature is currently popular .
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soon enough , " birthday kid " loses interest and the purchased pup ends up at the local pound , a victim of neglect .
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my sister owns a real paulie : it thinks like a parrot , bites like a parrot , and requires as much attention as a newborn human infant .
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please think twice before buying one .
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okay . back to the story .
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in movies , parrots usually play support characters , but paulie might be the first movie where the ( animatronic ) bird gets main billing .
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paulie , like those side characters in disney cartoons , is cute and sassy , a strutting , miniature human .
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actually , paulie is the voice of jay mohr ( he played jennifer aniston's boyfriend on picture perfect ) doing his best buddy hackett impression ( which is interesting , since hackett himself cameos as the pawn shop owner , and mohr doubles as a customer ) .
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paulie is for kids .
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while watching paulie you hear little tykes in the theater laughing hysterically when paulie calls the cat a " stupid furball . "
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sometimes , however , there are statements the kids don't get .
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for example , when paulie's elderly owner ivy ( gena rowlands ) dies , paulie explains , " well , one day , the cat got her . "
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and you hear kids exclaim , " what cat ? ! "
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imagine lassie come home , except with a doll-sized human dressed as a bird , and you'll have a good idea of the plot and characterization .
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bird tries to get home .
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bird meets elderly friend .
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bird loses elderly friend .
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bird meets eccentric friend .
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bird loses eccentric friend .
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bird meets bad influence .
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and so on and so forth , with paulie meeting friends and saying goodbye at a meandering pace until he finally makes it back to marie ( trini alvarado ) .
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the bottom line ?
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break out the popcorn money , moms and dads .
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paulie may be the low end version of lassie , bambi , or babe , but he'll do .
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sometimes the wisecracks go over their heads , but i'm sure youngsters can appreciate a story about a little person ( paulie ) trying to get home , meeting friends and experiencing moral lessons on the way .
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and good luck explaining what it means when paulie says of ivy , " well , one day , the cat got her . "
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