Paulie Go! movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Paulie Go!

This cute coming-of-age movie is now available on Video on Demand.

RATING: PG-13

LENGTH: 1 hour 26 minutes

IN A NUTSHELL:

A young AI prodigy gets rejected from a world-renowned robotics lab and does what any rational teenager would do – steal a van and drive across the country to Northern Minnesota to track down the Professor who rejected him. The film is directed and co-written by Andrew Nackman. This is only his second feature film. The movie was based on a character he developed for the 2012 short film named “Paulie”.

Movie Review Mom GRADE: B

THINGS I LIKED:

Ethan Dizon is the young star in the movie. You might have seen him in Sony/Marvel’s Spiderman: Homecoming or Avengers: Infinity War. He does a great job.
Madison Wolfe is the co-star of the movie and she also does a good job. You might have seen her in the Will Ferrell/Zach Galifianakis comedy The Campaign. Her character has a YouTube channel where she teaches people how to fish. As a Youtuber, myself, I’m also interested in seeing how they’re represented in movies.
The film was made in Nevis and Park Rapids, Minnesota. We get to see some of the 10,000 lakes in the beautiful state. What a beautiful part of the country.
There are some cute one-liners and other humorous moments.
At about the halfway mark, the plot takes a surprising and insightful turn. NO SPOILERS!
Filmed with a small budget, the movie has charm.
The movie has enough satisfying resolution, even though not all of the storylines are finished at the end of the movie.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

There are some bad acting moments. The two leads are young, so they have a lot of experience and learning to do, but they’re off to a good start and show great promise.
Some of the camera angles aren’t as good as they could be, sacrificing background for close-ups.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Some profanity (spoken and written in subtitles)
You see a buxom girl in a bathing suit.
A teen drinks alcohol
Talk of teenage pregnancy

THEMES:

Friendship
Human connection and relationships
Robotics
Artificial intelligence
Rejection & acceptance
Education
Take a chance
Follow your heart
Nature
Bullies
Fear
Facing your problems
Love and loss

FUNNY LINES:

* “What was that girlish shriek I heard?” – Avery (Madison Wolfe) “I don’t know. I heard it too.” – Paulie Go (Ethan Dizon) who actually was the one who screamed