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(About Our Ads) DVD REVIEW FOR "PAULIE" (1998) (Tony Shalhoub, Cheech Marin) (PG) Length Screen Format(s) Languages Subtitles Sound Sides 92 minutes Letterbox (1.85:1) 16x9 - Widescreen Full Frame (Pan & Scan) English French Spanish English Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 2 PLOT & PARENTAL REVIEW VIDEO: (B) Considering that this is a relatively recent film (originally released in April 1998), the picture quality is substandard that of other recent DVD releases. The problem doesn't lie with the film's occasional compression-related pixelation problems, but instead is simply due to a less than crisp transfer. Although the colors are solid, the picture never looks ultra sharp nor shows the fine detail evident in nearly every other current DVD. While it's not horribly distracting (especially for those accustomed to watching movies on VHS), it's something of a disappointment knowing how sharp the picture could and should be. AUDIO: (A) The audio track, however, sounds great. Featuring crisp dialogue, a fun and lively score -- including some Mexican songs -- and some effective sound effects (echoes, etc...), the disc's audio might not be of demonstration caliber, but perfectly delivers what's expected and needed from it. EXTRAS: Scene selection/Jump to any scene. Scene selection/Jump to any scene (with moving images). Theatrical trailer. Cast & Crew filmographies and biographies. Production notes -- 8 pages (on-screen text). COMMENTS: Kids, and adults for that matter, have always been fascinated by parrots for their ability to "talk." Of course, they only have the unique ability to mimic what they've previously heard, but the idea of having a parrot that can actually understand and converse is a good idea for a movie. Unfortunately, this film can't ever decide whether it wants to entertain children or their parents. While kids will like the sight and sounds of a parrot that can talk, the filmmakers opted for him to be an adult character instead of being a younger one such as the pig in "Babe." Thus, there's the immediate problem that kids won't "identify" with his character. In fact, once Paulie's young owner disappears from the story, there are no more "childlike" characters. The bigger problem, however, comes from long passages in the film that will bore kids into fits of restless behavior. If you're going to make a film like this, it should have lots of fun and zany moments (like "Babe"), but director John Roberts and screenwriter Laurie Craig (both making their major film debuts) have opted instead for trying their hand at more sentimental moments. While the adults might appreciate those efforts, the many scenes where nothing happens, except for lots of conversations, will not please the little ones. The technical work on Paulie the speaking parrot, however, is quite good and after a while one easily accepts that the bird actually can talk and understand human speech. Combining Boone Narr's use of real critters and Stan Winston's animatronic birds, the effect is quite realistic. While it's good to see a film aimed at children that doesn't include the obligatory and stereotypical "Home Alone" antics with the inane villains falling victim to pratfalls caused by precocious tykes, it would have been nice had the film tried -- and succeeded -- at entertaining the kids a little more than it does. The disc's supplemental materials, while adequate, certainly don't appeal to the film's target audience of younger kids. As such, a "making of" feature or a documentary about real parrots would have seemed more in line with what children would want to see (rather than on-screen text notes about the film or its stars, etc...).