The bizarre movie Amy Adams says everyone “must” see: “I’m gonna look like an idiot”
We’ve all got those movies we consider guilty pleasures, or at least, favourites that we wouldn’t consider high-brow. Whether it’s a cheesy comedy or a sentimental family-friendly film, there’s always going to be a film that resonates with the most pretentious of movie lovers that isn’t a Tarkovsky or Kubrick, even if you’re hesitant to admit it.
Yet, there should be no shame in admitting your love for a film that isn’t classed as one of the all-time greats, because life is simply too short. Lots of us love movies like Scooby-Doo or The Cat in the Hat or Twilight or maybe even The Room, and that’s OK. Amy Adams knows that it is futile to ignore the films that have had a big impact on you, even if they’re more likely to appear in ‘the worst movies of all time’ lists compared to ‘the greatest’.
When she discussed her favourite movies with Rotten Tomatoes, the six-time Oscar-nominated actor revealed her love of classics like Vertigo (“It speaks to me very strongly”) and The Wizard of Oz (“Have you done the watching it with the Dark Side of the Moon?”), while also pointing out an unexpected favourite. For many, it might be a film that unlocks some deeply-buried childhood memories.
“If I put Casablanca on I’ll sound like AFI, right? Here’s the thing: there are all the choices you can make that you know sound really good and then there’re the ones that you really watch, like a hundred times. Like Paulie, the film with the parrot — but if I put that on my list I’m gonna look like an idiot. You must see Paulie!” Released in 1998, the movie isn’t exactly a sophisticated piece of cinema, but the talking parrot certainly captivated Adams when she first saw it, and it has since become a title that she frequently returns to.
The movie sees Jay Mohr voice the parrot, who can talk just as well as a human. “I know you think I’m crazy. I love Paulie. I have these films that my younger brother’s like, ‘Amy, you’re gonna love this — you have to watch this film.’ He introduced me to Paulie. There’s a whole bunch of people in Paulie: there’s Gena Rowlands, Jay Mohr, Cheech; the guy from Monk, Tony Shalhoub, who’s one of my favourites. It’s such a touching story. I hope I haven’t built it up too much.”
Unfortunately for Paulie, box office earnings weren’t too generous, although critics responded a lot more warmly than you might expect. It even won a British Academy Children’s Award for ‘Best Children’s Feature Film’. That’s about as good as you can get for a movie about a talking parrot, although it didn’t exactly reach the heights of Babe, about a talking pig, which emerged a few years earlier.
If you’re looking for heartwarming family fun, however, Paulie is a solid choice, according to Adams. The actor has even appeared in a few talking animal films herself, like Enchanted, in which Adams played a princess with an array of furry talking friends.
