These moving words are proof that Paulie has not forgotten how Rocky pulled him from the pits of despair in Rocky III, when he was squandering his life in drunken helplessness and clearly battling the loss of direction. And in his own clumsy fashion, he finally expresses the admiration he has felt for his friend all these years. In Rocky IV, Paulie has rehabilitated himself and, more than ever, he is part of the Balboa family. He is someone on whose support Rocky can count. “I’m a shoulder to cry on,” says Young. “What can I say about that? I just love other people.”
