Beethoven

Such a good movie, even after 26 years! A much watch when we have kids.

After a St. Bernard puppy is abducted from a pet shop by animal abductors, the puppy escapes and finds its way to the home of the Newton family. Mother Alice (Bonnie Hunt) and children Emily(Sarah Rose Karr), Ted (Christopher Castile), and Ryce (Nicholle Tom) all immediately take to the puppy whom they name Beethoven, however father George Newton (Charles Grodin) is less enthused by the idea. While Beethoven enjoys the comforts of living with the Newtons, the animal abduction ring, run by sinister vet/black market animal tester Dr. Herman Varnick (Dean Jones) sets his sights on Beethoven as a test candidate for testing a new type of ammunition.

Released in 1992 to rather mediocre reviews but very healthy box office, Beethoven certainly fits well within the oeuvre of 1990s post Home Alone/Uncle Buck family comedies that ended up defining John Hughes career in the decade. While Beethoven is still a very early revisit of Hughes to the successful formula, it is quite noticeable that Hughes is setting the foundation for common place tropes that would reappear in further films. With that said, the movie is actually quite charming thanks to a well trained dog serving as the titular character, and Amy Holden Jones balances out the Hughes' tropes with some charm and edge that help the film to keep from going overboard with formula.

The best scenes in Beethoven are just watching the dog interact with people. The filmmakers do a pretty decent job of given Beethoven a personality as the gentle giant who's full of energy and intelligence but lacking in self awareness or grace in his movements. The scenes where Beethoven casually escapes his backyard enclosure are quite fun and there's a nice small town/Disney type vibe as he meets the Newton children around town and helps them deal with bullies, getting the attention of crushes, or in one instance engaging in a Lassie type rescue during a close call. The scenes with Beethoven frolicking around with the family or various people in town (firefighters, small business owners, etc.) are charming and make the film a pleasant enough sit.

The actors are perfectly servicable. Charles Grodin is perfectly fine playing an overworked, overstressed, father (even if at points it feels like he's doing a Steve Martin impression), and the rest of the family is perfectly fine as well. Some performances unfortunately go a bit too broad for my taste, such as Stanley Tucci and Oliver Platt playing a rehash of the comedic crook duo a la Horace and Jasper or Harry and Marv, or David Duchovny and Patricia Heaton playing a pair of snobbish DINK(Dual Income No Kids) who are basically insidious versions of Todd and Margo from Christmas Vacation. The real standout in the human performances is Dean Jones who washes away any history of light hearted Disney comedies and away and gives a fittingly sinister and slimey performance that honestly wouldn't be out of place in a straight thriller. It's a terrific villain performance and allows Jones to lift a bit more weight than he usually is allowed and he does so quite well.

The movie in terms of the movie itself it's perfectly fine. It doesn't reach the gold standards of Disney animal movies like '67's That Darn Cat or either of The Incredible Journey movies, but it also doesn't embarrass itself as seen in cases like C. H. O. M. P. S. or Bingo. Beethoven rests comfortably around the level of a Benji movie but with a bigger budget and more polish. The direction by Brian Levant is very exaggerated and lacking in subtlety or restraint, but unlike his other movies he tries to resist the temptation to go full cartoon logic (save for one scene with Duchonvy and Heaton). The movie is very much a collection of character based plots in the first half loosely connected with the second half being more based around the animal abduction ring. There's not much in the way of surprises, but it's all done well enough.

Beethoven is an above average family film anchored by a good performance from its central dog. The movie does a good job of making Beethoven feel like a character, and while the script is certainly formula its at least well done formula that moves at a good pace and doesn't linger on any point long enough to drag. Beethoven is the kind of movie you can watch with your kids and they'll enjoy it while you'll smile once every so often. It won't stick with you, but as family films of this type go it's one of the better ones.

Great film for kids and dog lovers don't listen to all the negative reviews,watch it now!

A lot of critics didn't like Beethoven, but they must be Scrooges. How can you not love this big, ungainly, lovable beast? At least the movie going public certainly liked him.

This St.Bernard puppy escapes from dognappers who take him and others from a pet shop. But even as a puppy he's resourceful and he wonders into a typical suburban home and is made welcome by the family and I mean the kids Christopher Castile, Nicholle Tom, and Sarah Rose Karr. Even their mom Bonnie Hunt kind of takes to him. What's a dad like Charles Grodin to do.

But as Beethoven grows older his clumsiness causes a lot trouble. He does have an instinct for sorting out some bad people and dealing with them. The kids get it, the parents don't.

Dean Jones is the villain here, a veterinarian who 'kills' his charges but secretly uses them for mad scientist like experimentation. Jones who was the all American hero in so many Disney films in the 60s and 70s looks like he's having a great old time as the Snidely Whiplash of scientists. He's got a pair of mooks for henchmen in Michael Tucci and Oliver Platt. In the old days they'd be played by Allen Jenkins and Edward Brophy.

This movie has little kids and a big dog in it. Now only the most hard hearted could resist that.

I really liked Beethoven. Of course it isn't perfect, it does have a silly ending, the plot does have its low points and the script was a tad weak in places. However, it is a charming, fun and entertaining family movie. I myself am mortified at the 5.1 IMDb rating. I seriously don't think it is as bad as all that. It isn't perfect, but it has a sense of fun. The cinematography is lush and very beautifully handled, and the direction was secure. Charles Grodin is an enormously talented actor, and I enjoyed his performance here, and Dean Jones seems to be having fun too. The child actors are appealing, and the music is lovely. I think the real star is Beethoven himself, whoever trained that dog should be told he/she did a wonderful job. With Beethoven, the film is fun, charming and very entertaining. And there are many memorable moments here. All in all, a very pleasant family film, I recommend it. It is not perfect, but it is one of the better family films out there. 7/10 Bethany Cox