ingredients : lost parrot trying to get home , friends synopsis : a russian janitor named misha ( tony shalhoub ) discovers a little old parrot languishing in the basement of a science research facility .
" paulie the talking parrot " ( the voice of jay mohr ) soon regales misha with his life story .
as a young bird paulie is raised by marie ( hallie kate eisenberg ) , a little girl with a speech impediment .
by attending marie 's speech lessons , paulie learns to act / speak like a regular person .
unfortunately , after being unfairly blamed for an accident , paulie is taken to a pawn shop and sold .
paulie 's biggest wish is to return to marie .
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 .
he is sent to a cruel research facility , where he refuses to participate and is imprisoned the basement .
will misha help paulie get back to marie ?
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 .
soon enough , " birthday kid " loses interest and the purchased pup ends up at the local pound , a victim of neglect .
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 .
please think twice before buying one .
okay .
back to the story .
in movies , parrots usually play support characters , but paulie might be the first movie where the ( animatronic ) bird gets main billing .
paulie , like those side characters in disney cartoons , is cute and sassy , a strutting , miniature human .
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 ) .
paulie is for kids .
while watching paulie you hear little tykes in the theater laughing hysterically when paulie calls the cat a " stupid furball .
" sometimes , however , there are statements the kids do n't get .
for example , when paulie 's elderly owner ivy ( gena rowlands )
dies , paulie explains , " well , one day , the cat got her .
"
and you hear kids exclaim , " what cat ? !
" 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 .
bird tries to get home .
bird meets elderly friend .
bird loses elderly friend .
bird meets eccentric friend .
bird loses eccentric friend .
bird meets bad influence .
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 ) .
the bottom line ? break out the popcorn money , moms and dads .
paulie may be the low end version of lassie , bambi , or babe , but he 'll do .
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 .
and good luck explaining what it means when paulie says of ivy , " well , one day , the cat got her . "
break out the popcorn money , moms and dads laughing hysterically cute and sassy