The Real Macaw (film)

The Real Macaw is a 1998 Australian adventure film written by Bruce Hancock and Matthew Perry and directed by Mario Andreacchio. It was produced and distributed by Becker Entertainment in association with the Australian Film Finance Corporation, The South Australian Film Corporation, The New South Wales Film and Television Office and The Queensland Government through Film Queensland, and filmed on location in Brisbane, Queensland. The film was released in Australia on 24 September 1998 and released on VHS in the United States and Canada on 11 July 2000 by Paramount Home Entertainment. It stars Jamie Croft as Sam Girdis, Deborra-Lee Furness as Beth Girdis, Joe Petruzzi as Rick Girdis, John Waters as Dr. Lance Hagen, and Jason Robards as Grandpa Girdis. The voice of Mac the Parrot was performed by Daniel Murphy in the Australian version and by John Goodman in the North American version.

Plot
Deep in the Amazon rainforest in 1850, Mac, a young blue and gold macaw, lives with his mother. One day, Mac goes exploring in the jungle on his own and enters an ancient temple full of treasure. Meanwhile, a group of pirates come to the jungle and force the natives to show them the entrance to the temple. After going inside and stealing many of the temple's treasures, the captain of the pirate crew finds Mac and captures him, taking back to the ship as his pet. That night, the captain gives Mac a jeweled ring, and the parrot takes the opportunity to escape. The pirate captain angrily tries to attack him, but he winds up knocking over some torches, setting the ship ablaze in the process, and the ship starts to sink, while Mac escapes through an open window. Mac eventually makes it to the South Pacific, where he lands on Coral Island. The pirate captain has made it there too, along with a treasure chest full of the riches he managed to salvage from the ship before it sank. The pirate makes his way into the island's forest and buries the chest, and uses his sword to mark an “X” on a tree next to the spot, and Mac watches him from a nearby tree.

A century later, in 1998, Mac, now 149 years old, can now speak as clearly as a human thanks to years of learning from mimicking others, but keeps it secret. He now lives in a neighborhood in Australia with a kind old man, who cares for injured birds, and is the only person who knows Mac can speak. The man's grandson, Sam Girdis, often visits him. At home, Sam has a rough relationship with his father, Rick, who chastises his son for often quitting on things when the going gets too tough. This causes Sam and his dad to butt heads often. One night, while releasing a lorikeet back to the wild, Grandpa falls out of a tree and breaks his arm. At the hospital, Mac, Sam, and the rest of the family goes to visit him. There, Rick explains to his father that he owes money to multiple people, and he's had to sell his house to pay off the debts. Sam is shocked upon hearing this.

At home, Mac reveals to Sam that he can speak, but the reason he keeps it a secret is because he doesn't want to be seen as a freak, or “Mr. Ed with feathers”. The next morning, Mac plays tricks on the family by imitating the phone, the tea kettle, the family dog, Romper, until Rick has had enough and decides to sell Mac. Sam finds out about it from his mother and rushes to the pet shop to save Mac. The two escape on a bus, and as the bus drives away, Sam angrily berates his father for selling Grandpa's home, and says to him that he hates being home. At Grandpa's house, Mac remembers the old ring he got from the pirate, and shows Sam the trinket, and Sam, believing that the jewel could be worth enough money to save the house, follows Mac to the museum, where the museum's curator, Dr. Hagen offers Sam $3,000 for the ring if he brings it the next day. At Grandpa's house, Sam and Mac see a real estate agent, who tells Sam that $3,000 won't be enough to pay off the house. Later, Mac remembers the old pirate treasure on Coral Island, and tells Sam that Grandpa knew about the treasure, but he never cared for it, as he believed his family was more important than riches. And so, the duo plan to sell the ring, use the money to pay for plane tickets, and fly to Coral Island to find the treasure. At the museum the next day, Sam receives the money from Dr. Hagen, but he accidentally mentions the treasure, and Hagen attempts to pressure Sam into revealing its whereabouts, but he runs away, and this reveals Hagen's true colors: in reality, he's a thief who steals museum artifacts and sells them for money. Hagen becomes determined to get the treasure by any means. Mac berates Sam for revealing the treasure.

At Grandpa's house, the two locate the island on a map. The next morning, Sam and Mac escape the house, narrowly avoiding the family coming to the house to look for Sam after he didn't come back home last night. They head to the hospital, and they question Grandpa about Sam's whereabouts. After hearing that Mac was with him, Grandpa realizes where he's going and goes with the others to find him. At the airport, Sam disguises Mac as a puppet (as he didn't want to have to go in cargo) and takes him on the plane. However, unbeknownst to them, Dr. Hagen is on the plane as well, hoping to find the treasure by following Sam. Grandpa explains about the treasure to his family.

At Coral Island, Sam and Mac take a taxi to the beach, where Mac recognizes the hill that leads the way to the tree where the treasure is buried. Literally following the pirate's footsteps, Sam starts to get annoyed by Mac's constant chatter. He walks until he finds a wall, and going to the other side, Sam and Mac discover that a resort now exists where the treasure is buried. However, after hearing other birds in the trees, Sam waits for Mac on the other side, while Mac decides to check the trees, figuring that one must be the tree where the treasure is. Unfortunately, Mac turns up with nothing, telling Sam that while there's plenty of trees to check, but he couldn't tell which one has the treasure under it. Mac convinces Sam to try checking in to the hotel, but the desk clerk kicks them out upon seeing Mac (due to the hotel's “no pets” policy). Meanwhile, Dr. Hagen checks in, while Sam and Mac try to sneak in by using disguises, but they are recognized by the clerk, who calls security. Sam manages to get to the trees, but while Mac goes to check them, Sam is discovered by the security guard, who threatens Sam with arrest if he comes into the hotel again. Mac decides that he and Sam can come back later and dig under the trees to find the treasure. Meanwhile, Sam's family manages to call the airport and get information on Sam's whereabouts.

That night, Sam and Mac climb over the wall and go to search under the trees to find the treasure. Nearby, Dr. Hagen is watching them. At the airport, the family manages to get a flight to the island. Meanwhile, Sam and Mac are still digging when the hotel guard comes back, forcing them to hide. Seeing Dr. Hagen, Sam begins to panic. However, Mac points out an air vent, which they promptly open and hide in. Crawling through the ventilation system, the duo makes their way to the kitchen. Sam asks Mac to sneak in and get him some food. Mac succeeds, but not without a few comical mishaps involving a run-in with the guard, and causing ruckus in the kitchen. The guard recognizes Mac. After falling out of the vents via a trapdoor, Sam finds a ladder that leads to a stage at the hotel's restaurant, but Sam and Mac pretend to be a ventriloquist act, which wows the audience, but the security guard finds them and is about to throw them out again, but the hotel's owner, amazed by the performance, decides to give them a complimentary suite, with the promise that Mac and Sam perform again the next night.

That night, Sam confides to Mac that he's still scared that Hagen followed them, but Mac does his best to encourage him. Meanwhile, Hagen pays some of the villagers to help him dig for the treasure. Sam further to Mac explains that his dad used to be really fun, and they did everything together, but after Rick got really serious, it drove a wedge between them. Sam admits that he just wants his father to like him again. Mac admits that his family used to give him a hard time as well, but when the pirates took him away, he realized how much he missed them and his jungle home. The next morning, The two witnesses the hotel's owner calling the security over to the gardens. Upon investigating, Sam and Mac see multiple more holes dug around the area. They realize that it was the work of Dr. Hagen.

Unfortunately, Hagen himself arrives and kidnaps Sam, threatening him that if he doesn't cooperate, Hagen will rat Sam out to security. At the dining room, while Hagen attempts to get the truth from Sam, Mac finally sees the “X” marked tree behind them. Taking the chance, Sam quickly escapes using the elevator. The duo make it to the maintenance room, where Mac accidentally tampers with the power switches, raising suspicion from the security guard. Meanwhile, Sam finds a way under the resort, and it leads him and Mac to a tunnel, where they're finally under the tree. Back at the airport, Rick blames his father for Sam's disappearance, but Grandpa tells him the real reason: “Because somewhere along the way, his father lost his sense of joy, and life without joy, isn’t life for anyone, especially a child.” Rick begins contemplating his father's words. Meanwhile, Sam and Mac's digging causes the floor to sag, and Hagen takes notice of it. Sadly, Sam's efforts are apparently in vain, because he only finds the tree's root.

Sam begins to lose hope, because they can't find the treasure, Hagen is after them, and they're miles from home. Mac starts to berate Sam for giving up, saying that his father was right about him. This leads to a bitter falling out between the two, but Sam feels guilty and goes back to try and apologize to Mac, but sees that he has left. At the island police station, Sam's family fails to get information. At the beach, Grandpa walks up the hill, where the treasure is, with the others following. Meanwhile, the security guard calls the police and gets the truth about Sam, believing he's finally caught him.

Meanwhile, Sam keeps digging, but encounters Hagen again. Sam escapes and heads up the ladder and onstage again, where he reunites with Mac and they reconcile. During their performance, the guard arrives with backup, but Mac humiliates him after taking his toupee off. The guard orders the others to block the exits, but Mac heads back to the maintenance room and uses the loudspeaker to feign a fire alarm. Making a hasty escape back to the tunnel, Mac and Sam finally find the treasure. However, Dr. Hagen arrives with security, forcing Sam and Mac to jump down a hole and into the river below, which leads to the harbor. After reaching shore, Sam is unfortunately captured by Dr. Hagen, who takes him and the treasure chest on a boat out to sea. Meanwhile, Sam's family arrives with the police, and seeing what's happening, board a helicopter to follow them. On the boat, Sam offers to let Hagen keep the treasure, but Dr. Hagen refuses Sam's offer and attempts to kill Sam by throwing him overboard, but Sam survives and secretly takes the chest and sneaks it onto a lifeboat, and cuts the boat's fuel line, but Hagen notices.

But before he can do anything to Sam, Mac arrives and attacks him. Mac steals Hagen's cigar and drops it, and because of the fuel line being cut, it causes the boat to explode, knocking him out of the sky. Sam finds him unconscious, and Mac seemingly dies. Rick finally finds Sam and jumps in to save his son, and father and son reconcile. Mac is revealed to still be alive, and he gets rescued as well. Back on the beach, Sam reunites with his family, and Dr. Hagen (who jumped off the boat before it exploded) is arrested, but he tries to escape. However, Grandpa and Rick manage to catch him. Rick also apologizes to Grandpa for thinking he was crazy, and selling his house, and instead promises that he and the others will help him out, allowing Grandpa to keep his home.

The treasure is recovered, and Sam decides to return the treasure to its temple in the Amazon, and the locals hail him a hero. Meanwhile, Mac decides to stay in the rainforest, saying that it's where he belongs. After bidding farewell, Mac finally returns to his home, and reunites with his mother, who asks where he's been all those years. The film ends as Mac begins telling the story to her.

Cast

 * Jamie Croft as Sam Girdis
 * Deborra-Lee Furness as Beth Girdis
 * Joe Petruzzi as Rick Girdis
 * John Waters as Dr. Lance Hagen
 * Jason Robards as Grandpa Girdis
 * John Goodman as Mac the Parrot (voice) (North American version)
 * Gerry Connolly as Lou Rickets
 * Robert Coleby as Mr. St. John
 * Petra Yared as Kathy Girdis
 * Nathan Kotzur as Scarlatta
 * Kevin Hides as Business Man on Plane
 * Penny Everingham as Nurse Gimlet
 * Murray Shoring as Dr. Thompson
 * Daniel Murphy as Pet Store Owner/Mac the Parrot (voice) (Australian version)
 * Anna-Maria La Spina as Museum Receptionist

Box office
The Real Macaw grossed $741,876 at the box office in Australia.

Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes The Real Macaw has two reviews listed: one positive; one negative.