Turner and Hooch is a strange movie.
Turner and Hooch was released on July 28, 1989, produced by Touchstone Pictures and Silver Screen Partners IV and distributed by Buena Vista Pictures. It made $71 million on a $42 million budget.
According to Box Office Mojo, it’s No. 10 all-time among dog movies in terms of domestic earnings. (Beverly Hills Chiahuahua is No. 4, while Hotel for Dogs is No. 9. We’ve also done reviews on both of them – check them out!)
This movie is weird. It’s very well made, but it’s just strange.
The content is extremely violent, and there are moments of incredibly pathos, yet the overall tone is gentle and slightly humorous, while the pacing is extremely leisurely before ending with a sudden jerk similar to an episode of Law and Order. This despite a “happily ever after” epilogue scene and several montages of characters being themselves, whether human or canine.
There is far too much of Tom Hanks in his underwear, that’s uncomfortable to watch. It does fit his character as a lifelong bachelor, though, so I can see from a story perspective why they went with that.
I don’t think this movie could get made now, because the story moves too slowly and there isn’t enough conflict. The structure is too simple, and producers would balk at making a normal, non-talking dog a main character, citing too much expense in the training and filming restrictions.
That’s a shame, because it isn’t a bad movie. It’s not the greatest thing Tom Hanks ever made, but it’s far from the worst, either.
This was the only film that Beasley the Bordeaux ever made, but he lived to the extremely advanced age of 14 human years (roughly 84 in dog years), dying in 1992. Most dogs of his breed live around five to eight human years.
John McIntire was known for his main roles in Wagon Train and The Virginian, and numerous guest appearances on many other Westerns. He got his start as a radio voice actor, and played Rufus in The Rescuers and Digger the badger in The Fox and the Hound, where his real-life wife Jeannette Nolan played the Widow Tweed.
A pilot for a Turner and Hooch TV spinoff/sequel series was made starring Thomas F Wilson (Biff Tannen of Back to the Future), but it never got made into a series, apparently. Beasley would have reprised his role as Hooch.
Bottom line? You should watch this one.