Dog o' Day
Fansided

Barking at the Big Screen: Turner and Hooch

By Wesley Coburn

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 20: Actor Tom Hanks attends "A Hologram For The King" World Premiere at the John Zuccotti Theater at BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center on April 20, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 20: Actor Tom Hanks attends "A Hologram For The King" World Premiere at the John Zuccotti Theater at BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center on April 20, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Jemal Countess/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 2
Next
Bordeaux
NEW YORK, NY – FEBRUARY 17: A Dogue de Bordeaux dog named claire is viewed at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show on February 17, 2015 in New York City. The show, which is in its 139th year and is called the second-longest continuously running sporting event in the United States, includes 192 dog breeds and draws nearly 3,000 global competitors. This year’s event began on Monday and will conclude with the awarding of ‘Best In Show’ on Tuesday night. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images) /

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.

Next. Dog-Eared Reads: The Art of Racing in the Rain reviewed. dark

Bottom line? You should watch this one.

Home/Dog Movies