Oh Heavenly Dog

I love this movie. It's got the cheesiest soundtrack (I'm pretty sure it's Paul McCartney and Wings), totally dating it that way, but it's got some pretty funny moments. Seeing Benji and having Chevy Chase involved in the same movie makes for all-around fun. Added bonus for those who like mysteries. This is a romance-mystery-comedy combo. Rent it.

Around the time Chevy Chase had hit it big with Saturday night live, he started to get movie offers. So after sharing the screen with Goldie Hawn in "Foul Play", we who would see Chase voicing the thoughts of everyone's favourite show-time pooch at the time; the lovable Benji. "Oh Heavenly Dog" is a comedy murder mystery that sees Chase as a washed-up detective that's murdered and then is sent back down to earth in the form of a dog to uncover who killed him. So would you class it as a Chase vehicle? Not really. Would he go far for being in it. Probably not. However the dry humour and the presence of Benji (who's quite well-trained and steals nearly every scene)… just fitted snugly with Chase. Maybe minor, but passable. The story plays out like a lively comic strip, where it's all about investigating the clues from a dog's point of view and also getting into mishaps within a London / Paris backdrop. Quite foreseeable plotting, but nonetheless amusingly undemanding. Along the way the lovely Jane Seymour finds herself caught-up in the web and Omar Sharif is at his seedy best in trying to cover everything up. The cast kind of keeps a straight-face throughout. Also the buoyant sounding music soundtrack is an odd assortment of choices. Perhaps better remembered for nostalgic reasons, but "Oh Heavenly Dog" is an admirable little comedy fantasy.

this movie was an absolute pile of gopher. when i say gopher, i mean that small brown burrowing creature from northern america, yes that thing. Possibly has higher IQ than Chevy Chase, who put in a dismal performance for this movie. In fact, the star of the film, Benji, did not need a vet, groomer, or trainer, while Chevy Chase needed all of these things, including a bowl of water, plate of biscuits and a deluxe sized "Kitty Litter" tray. Unfortunately, most of Chevy Chase's salary for this movie (about 12 million $Us) was spent on such items, an estimated Us$3.5 million was spent on "Kitty Litter" alone. Anyway, this movie was so incredibly horse that it should be banned in all countries over the world, except the USA, they made it, they can suffer with it.

I first saw this movie when I was 8 years old. We had just gotten our cable, which was a big treat back in 1982. I use to get the program guide and mark all the times "Oh Heavenly Dog" was on. I became a bit obsessed with this movie. There was something about how goofy and sad Chevy Chase's character appealed to me. I was so intrigued by the beauty and elegance of Jane Seymour's presence. When you combine the two in the movie, everything seemed to fall into place. It was simple and honest. The movie isn't a dramatic masterpiece but its not crap either! As a child and as an adult I still feel the same way. This movie is a warm fuzzy. It is fun to watch, has a good plot and I really like the songs in the opening and ending. It's a classic. Somewhat an unknown among many, but a favorite of mine.

This is one of the best things that Chevy was ever involved in. Although ninety five percent of his participation was only his voice, as he was killed off early in the movie, I thought that the movie was good, solid entertainment. Almost without exception, I've always seen the film badly panned by most critics and movie reviews, but I was really pleased to see that most folks who took the time to comment on IMDb were highly complimentary and reaffirmed that I was not wrong on this one. Maybe you just need to have a bit of imagination and a real love of animals, particularly dogs, to get all there is out of the movie. See it, enjoy it and then comment. Don't let poor reviewers keep you from the fun!