Paulie
| Paulie | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
|
| Directed by | John Roberts |
| Produced by | Mark Gordon Gary Levinsohn Allyson Lyon Segan |
| Written by | Laurie Craig |
| Narrated by | Jay Mohr |
| Starring | Jay Mohr Tony Shalhoub Gena Rowlands Hallie Kate Eisenberg Cheech Marin Buddy Hackett |
| Music by | John Debney |
| Cinematography | Tony Pierce-Roberts |
| Editing by | Bruce Cannon |
| Studio | Mutual Film Company |
| Distributed by | DreamWorks |
| Release date(s) | April 17, 1998 |
| Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country |  United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $23,000,000 |
| Box office | $26,875,268 |
Paulie is a 1998 family film about a talking parrot named "Paulie". It was directed by John Roberts and written by Laurie Craig, and it was produced by Mark Gordon, Gary Levinsohn, and Allyson Lyon Segan for Mutual Film Company and DreamWorks. It stars Jay Mohr as Paulie's voice and Tony Shalhoub as a janitor who finds him imprisoned in a biological research laboratory, along with Gena Rowlands, Cheech Marin, Bruce Davison, and Trini Alvarado. It also features Buddy Hackett in his final film role, and Mohr also plays a minor on-screen character.
The film was released on VHS in 1998 by DreamWorks Home Entertainment.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
Misha Belenkoff (Tony Shalhoub), a Russian immigrant and former literature teacher, is living in America and working as a janitor at an animal testing lab in California. There he encounters Paulie, a blue-crowned conure, who astonishingly speaks to him in perfect English. Paulie, however, does not talk when Belenkoff brings witnesses.
Misha persuades Paulie to tell his story with pieces of mango. Paulie tells Belenkoff about his real owner, a little girl named Marie Alweather (Hallie Kate Eisenberg), and how he was given to her by her grandfather. Marie has a speech problem for she stutters, but is delighted when playing with Paulie. Marie's father, Warren (Matt Craven), is a soldier and away from home, while her mother, Lila (Laura Harrington), is at home. Marie is an only child. Eventually, Warren does return home. He is happy to see Marie for the first time in a long time, but is startled to see her stutter. When Warren and Lila send her to speech therapy, Marie successfully overcomes her stutter because of Paulie, who learns speech during the therapy. However, Paulie only speaks around Marie. As the months pass, Marie makes no friends and Warren grows concerned about this. He is also concerned that Marie may be spending too much time with Paulie, and not socializing with other children her age. That night, Marie takes Paulie to her house's roof and attempts to teach him to fly in case they separate. Unfortunately, she falls off the roof. After this tramautic event, Warren sends Paulie away.
Paulie is passed from one owner to another, eventually ending up in a pawn shop, where he spends his time insulting the customers—including one named Benny (Jay Mohr)—and the pawnbroker, Artie (Buddy Hackett), until he is purchased by a widowed artist named Ivy (Gena Rowlands). She befriends him and agrees to take him to find Marie, who has moved across the country to Los Angeles. Their mission comes to a premature end as Ivy loses her eyesight. Paulie remains as Ivy's eyes until she eventually passes away. Afterward he finally learns to fly and continues his journey alone.
In East Los Angeles, Paulie joins a group of performing conures owned by Ignacio (Cheech Marin) but is kidnapped by Benny (Mohr), who recognized Paulie from the pawn shop, and begins a life of crime. In a botched jewel theft, Paulie flies down through the chimney of a house but is trapped inside and abandoned.
Paulie is then brought to the institute, his current home, where employees and scientists there are stunned by his intelligence. They put Paulie through tests and promise that he will be reunited with Marie. When Paulie discovers that the institute has lied to him, he refuses to cooperate with any more tests. Paulie's wings are clipped, and he is imprisoned in the basement, forgotten.
Moved by Paulie's story, Misha decides to give up his menial job to release Paulie and take him to Marie. After escaping from the Institute, they find Marie, who is now fully grown and a beautiful young woman (Trini Alvarado), but who is unrecognizable to Paulie. After a moment of confusion, they are then reunited. Marie invites Misha into her house but Misha says he should go and that she and Paulie must have lots to talk about. Paulie then joins in, saying that he should stay, but Misha still tries to go. Paulie then points out that Marie had "flowers in her hair" and probably had "books on the table", a reference to what Misha said would be his dream girl earlier in the film, Marie says that she would like it a lot if Misha could come inside, and Misha admits that he would also like to come inside. The three go inside and the credits begin to roll.
[edit] Cast
- Gena Rowlands as Ivy, a widowed artist
- Tony Shalhoub as Misha, a recent US immigrant from East Europe
- Cheech Marin as Ignacio, an entertainer
- Bruce Davison as Dr. Reingold, a biological research scientist
- Trini Alvarado as Adult Marie
- Jay Mohr as the voice of Paulie and Benny.
- Buddy Hackett as Artie, owner of a pawn shop
- Hallie Kate Eisenberg as Marie, a young girl with a stutter
- Matt Craven as Warren
- Bill Cobbs as Virgil
- Tia Texada as Ruby, and the voice of Lupe
- Laura Harrington as Lila
[edit] Production
The film's production budget was 23 million US dollars.[1]Buddy Hackett auditioned to do the voice of Paulie, but lost to Jay Mohr who did an impression of Hackett. This was Hackett's last theatrical appearance. British filmmaker John Roberts who prior to Paulie directed War of the Buttons served as the director.
[edit] Reception
The film was well received. As of January 6, 2011, the movie has scored a 61% or 6.1/10 rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
It was distributed in 24 countries and 10 different languages between 1998 and 1999.
Paulie grossed $5,369,800 on its opening weekend, and $26,875,268 USD altogether. It was released in 1,812 theaters.[1]
[edit] Awards And Nominations
| Award | Category | Result |
|---|---|---|
| ALMA Award | Outstanding Actor in a Feature Film - Cheech Marin | Nomination |
| ALMA Award | Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film - Trini Alvarado | Nomination |
| BAFTA Children's Award | Best Children's Feature Film | Won |
| Bronze Gryphon | Early Screens - John Roberts | Won |
| Young Artist Award | Best family feature - Comedy | Nomination |
| Young Artist Award | Best performance in a feature film - Young Actress aged ten or under - Hallie Kate Eisenberg | Nomination |
| Young Artist Award | Best performance by a young actress in a comedy film - Hallie Kate Eisenberg | Nomination |
[edit] References
- ^ a b "PAULIE". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=paulie.htm. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
