Beethoven (film)

Two thieves, Harvey and Vernon, steal a group of puppies from a pet store. A St. Bernard puppy escapes and sneaks into the home of the Newton family. The patriarch, George, is a control freak and workaholic who does not want a dog. However, his wife, Alice, and their three children, Ryce, Ted, and Emily, convince him to take the dog in. The dog is named "Beethoven" after Emily plays a portion of Ludwig van Beethoven's Fifth Symphony on the piano and he barks along to it. Beethoven quickly grows into a large dog, and George must clean up after the lovable, but slobbery, mischievous animal. Beethoven becomes an important part of the family: he helps Ryce talk to her crush Mark, scares off some bullies harming Ted, and saves Emily's life when she falls into an irresponsible babysitter's swimming pool. George still maintains his dislike, which is further aggravated when the dog's antics ruin a barbecue he is hosting for Brad and Brie Wilson, unpleasant venture capitalists looking to invest in and, unbeknownst to George, swindle him out of his car air freshener firm. The Newtons take Beethoven to veterinarian Dr. Herman Varnick for a routine medical exam, unaware that he is secretly involved in unethical animal experiments and is seeking large-skulled dogs to test ammunition on. Dr. Varnick tells George of a supposed mental instability among St. Bernards that makes them potentially dangerous and violent, advising him to watch Beethoven closely for any sign of viciousness. Later, under the pretense of doing a follow-up exam on Beethoven, Dr. Varnick visits the Newton home. After applying fake blood onto his arm and Beethoven's nose, Dr. Varnick repeatedly hits Beethoven until the dog retaliates, unaware that Emily saw him. When the rest of the family comes outside to rescue Dr. Varnick, he claims that Beethoven attacked him without provocation and must be euthanized. Dr. Varnick also threatens to press charges if the Newtons refuse. Despite Emily's protests that Dr. Varnick is lying, George reluctantly takes Beethoven to Dr. Varnick's office. On the way there, George remembers that his own father took the family dog to be put down at the vet, something that George never forgave him for. George fears that his family will similarly hate him; when George returns home, his fears are realized when Alice and the kids refuse to eat dinner with him. Alice convinces George that they should believe Emily rather than someone they only met twice. The Newtons all return to Dr. Varnick's office to reclaim Beethoven, but Dr. Varnick says Beethoven already passed away. George remembers that the receptionist told him that Beethoven would not be put to sleep until the next morning before noticing that Dr. Varnick has no bite marks on his arm. Realizing that Emily was telling the truth the whole time, George punches Dr. Varnick square in the face and leaves. Afterwards, the Newtons covertly follow Dr. Varnick to his warehouse, where Beethoven has been kept the whole time. Beethoven manages to escape from his cage but is recaptured by Harvey and Vernon, who are working for Dr. Varnick. As Alice tries to call the police, George goes to the top of the building to spy through the skylight. The skylight shatters, and George falls to the ground in front of Dr. Varnick, who prepares to shoot both him and Beethoven. However, Sparky, a captive Jack Russell Terrier that Beethoven had earlier befriended, bites Dr. Varnick in the groin, causing him to fire a shot into the air. Ted hears the gunshot and smashes the car through the warehouse entrance, crashing into a cart and launching numerous syringes into Dr. Varnick, sedating him. As the Newtons reunite with Beethoven and free all the captive dogs, they notice Harvey and Vernon trying to escape. Ted sends the dogs after them, but Harvey and Vernon escape into a junkyard, only to be attacked by several Doberman guard dogs. Dr. Varnick, Harvey, and Vernon are all arrested for animal cruelty. The Newtons are praised as heroes in the news, George takes a new liking to Beethoven, and Ryce gets a call from Mark. The Newtons then go to sleep, saying good night to Beethoven and all the other dogs they rescued. ==Cast==

John Hughes left the Beethoven script for Universal Pictures when he parted ways with the studio. The dogs featured in the film were owned and trained by Eleanor Keaton, the wife of Buster Keaton. Beethoven is played by canine actor Chris, who had 12 doubles. Principal photography began on May 1, 1991, in Los Angeles, California, under the direction of Steve Rash, but he left the production due to creative differences and was replaced with Brian Levant. ==Reception==

Critical response On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, it has an approval rating of 31%, based on reviews from 29 critics, with an average score of 4.7/10. The critical consensus reads: "Fluffy and incorrigible, Beethoven is a good boy who deserves a better movie." Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave Beethoven a grade of A. The Washington Posts Rita Kempley praised the film as a "a waggish tale of canine chicanery, an uproarious if impawsible symphony of drool, doggy fidelity and chewed shoes." Johanna Steinmetz of the Chicago Tribune wrote that "Beethoven charms its way through [its] highly formulaic premise with the help of some smart animal-handling, a few excellently realized visual stunts and narrative montages of life a la dog." The Hartford Courant said: "The most important work comes from a hulking, brown-eyed, sad-faced big star named Chris, who makes Beethoven into a Benji for the '90s, a sort of canine Wallace Beery or Walter Matthau. Roll on, Beethoven." In The New York Times, Caryn James wrote Beethoven is "much more enjoyable than it has any right to be" and "tugs all the right strings, in a manner strangely reminiscent of Home Alone. It is savvy about kids' troubles...[and] is sentimental but not gooey. Most important, its cartoonish bad guys offer villainy without any true danger and are vanquished by a non-adult hero". James added Charles Grodin "provides much of the adult appeal of Beethoven. He underplays his comic scenes where another actor would have been mugging furiously, but he still lets on that George is a softy underneath it all." He concluded Beethoven is "the kind of clever, innocuous family entertainment that's always in short supply." Others pointed out the film's darker elements may be too scary for young kids. Chris Hicks of the Deseret News wrote that "the first half brings to mind the best elements of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids, with its delightful portrayal of domestic bliss gone awry. But the second half is more like a failed kiddie version of a TV crime drama. And the film never quite recovers." Hal Lipper of the Tampa Bay Times called the film an "87-minute commercial" for pet food company Iams, but praised Bonnie Hunt's performance. The American Veterinary Medical Association expressed disapproval for the film's evil veterinarian plot and sent letters of protest to Ivan Reitman, the film's executive producer, and to the Motion Picture Association of America. Box office Beethoven opened in third place at the North American box office, with a total of $7,587,565. In its fourth week of release, it moved to the number 2 spot. Accolades ==Music==

The soundtrack to the film was released on December 15, 1992. ==Sequels and spin-offs==

The film was followed by four sequels and three standalone films that use the Beethoven name and the premise of a St. Bernard, but the plots are less and less connected as the series goes on. ''Beethoven's 2nd was released to theaters in 1993. The remaining sequels were direct-to-video films: Beethoven's 3rd (2000), Beethoven's 4th (2001), Beethoven's 5th (2003), Beethoven's Big Break (2008), Beethoven's Christmas Adventure (2011), and Beethoven's Treasure Tail'' (2014). An animated TV series was also created around the films that debuted in 1994. Dean Jones voiced George Newton in it after playing Dr. Herman Varnick in the film and Nicholle Tom reprised her role, voicing Ryce Newton. None of the sequels or related media featured the involvement of Hughes. ==References==