The Real Macaw

This movie is a children's movie; it's cheap, quick, made-in-Australia Discovery-channel-family-movie type fare, so set your expectations accordingly. It's not realistic, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, the budget is small and the production schedule is short. It's not "Babe". From that point of view the movie is enjoyable to watch. Jason Robards is obviously having way too much fun in his role. The animal direction is pretty good as well, and my hat's off to the macaw wrangler. The bird has all the best lines, of course, but John Goodman's stereotypical "rawwk, phwee-phyoo" overdub just made me roll my eyes ( though not as insulting as the smartass Brooklyn accent they used for Paulie...). The one point I found really outstanding about the film is the macaw puppet used in many scenes; it is very realistic when still, or talking in medium or long shots. A puppet was also used instead of CGI for many of the flying scenes. Owning a blue-and-gold macaw myself, I was quite impressed at this ingenuity on such a small budget. Watch it with your kids, watch it with your bird, set your expectations accordingly and enjoy.