Paulie, an intelligent parrot who actually talks, relates the story of his struggle to a Russian immigrant who works as a janitor at the research institute where he is housed and neglected. Paulie's story begins many years earlier when he is given as a gift to a little girl who stutters. Eventually, he teaches the girl to speak correctly but is taken away by her father because he believes the girl cannot distinguish fantasy from reality because she believes the bird can talk. Paulie goes through a series of adventures with a pawn shop owner, an aging widow, a Mexican-American troubadour and a would be thief before being taken to the institute where he now lives
A girl falls off a roof and is caught by her father. A bird is abandoned and trapped in a house, where a young boy threatens to shoot him with a toy bow-and-arrow. A bird is very upset when his wings are clipped. An ambulance signals the death of a character, though nothing is explicit or scary.
profanity
The movie has a few instances of minor insulting language, such as when Paulie calls Misha a "mop monkey," and calls a pet cat a "stupid hairball." A pawn shop owner briefly mutters "Goddamnit" and Paulie calls a lab worker "jackass".
alcohol
In one minor scene, patrons at an outdoor bar/taqueria consume beers during a musical performance.
frightening
Paulie is taken from Marie against her will as she runs crying and screaming after him. This scene is very hard to watch.
An elderly woman nearly crashes with a semi-truck.
