Paulie is underrated.
Yes, Paulie is not the smartest and he is very flawed, but he is underrated by the modern fandom. He is not as bad as people claim.
I'll try to give you examples of good Paulie moments, for example when he is a good friend for Rocky.
- In Rocky III, Paulie talks about how, when they were younger, other kids/teens made fun of Rocky and Paulie always defended him.
- In Rocky, Paulie lifts the rope of the ring to grant Adrian access to the ring so she can reach Rocky, eventhough the security is already stopping him from entering with physical force.
- In Rocky, when they watch the first interview of Rocky with Apollo, Paulie is the one who speaks up that he feels they are making fun of Rocky.
- In Rocky, Paulie clumsily tries to get Rocky and Adrian to go on a date together, as he feels it would be positive for both. The way he does it is questionable, but his good intentions are proven right. Rocky and Adrian get married and have a son.
- In Rocky II, Paulie notices Adrians disapproval of Rockys rematch with Apollo is whats causing Rocky enormous amounts of distress so he tries to convince Adrian to approve of it. The way he tries to do it is questionable at best, but once again the intention is there.
- In Rocky IV, before the big fight with Drago, Paulie gives Rocky that big speech of how much he loves him like a brother.
- In Rocky III, Paulie attacks Thunderlips, the 2m wrestler played by Hulk Hogan, with a chair to defend Rocky and gets punched in the face for it.
- In Rocky V, Paulie shittalks Tommy Gunn for disrespecting Rocky and gets really angry at Tommys behavior and pushes him and threatens to beat him up, even though Tommy is the reigning Heavyweight Champ. He gets punched in the face for it.
- In Rocky V, Paulie trains Rockys son to defend himself from bullies.
- In Rocky Balboa, its revealed that Paulie has accompanied Rocky on his annual nostalgia tour on Adrians death anniversary for years eventhough he hates it.
- In Rocky Balboa, Paulie admits that he knows that he treated Adrian badly and that it hurts him to be reminded of it.
- In all movies, Paulie is by Rockys side. When he's on top, when he's at the bottom, when he lost everything, when he needs support with training, when he has a fight, Paulie is in his corner for most fights.
Paulie is not perfect, he is cranky, he is an alcoholic, he hates himself, but he always has Rockys back.