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Simply A Masterpiece

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Blistering performances.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

It's a good film to see for the family especially if you're a fan of Dogs. It also somehow teaches you to whether actually get a Dog or not, and what it could actually be like to have a Dog as part of the family. The film has a lot of humour, so I see no reason why anyone could dislike such a family film. There aren't many films based on Dogs that can match Beethoven, so its worth watching. There are sequels for Beethoven, but none of them beats the original unless I'm mistaken.

This movie has various elements and themes that are not only annoying and pushed way too far, but also not the best acting. It's a very melodramatic movie, dose have some crude humor and mild swearing, and isn't really appropriate for its intended audience.Flaw 1: The little girl, Emily (played by Sarah Rose Carr), was almost as much of a spoiled little brat as Drew Barrymore or the Olsen Twins! She's one of those, "aw, so sweet cute little kid" characters, fake and makes you want to run off and puke in a bush somewhere. She says various annoying lines in the film, such as yelling "dog killer!" at her father for supposedly putting the dog down because it was considered a threat. One of the most annoying characters in a movie I've ever seen! Flaw 2: It's one of those "dogs are a member of your family" movies... DOGS ARE NOT PEOPLE! I can't stress this enough! Lately there's been this trend with fat women who call their dogs their "fur-children" and treat them like people... ugh. Dogs are dogs. I'm not saying it's right to be cruel to dogs but treating them like humans, especially considering the various activities dogs do every day, is just messed up.Flaw 3: The anti-animal testing stuff could seriously scare kids. The vet, played by Stanley Tucci, is selling his patients to animal testing laboratories. I don't honestly care about animal testing and kids won't either, but if you ever have to take a family pet to the vet, and your kids have seen this movie, you'll have to burden yourself with explaining to them that vets are not monsters who sell pets to vivisection projects.Flaw 4: The eyes on the dog look fake, is the dog a puppet at some parts? There are various others, I just figured I should list off the worst. To be fair, Beethoven had one or two funny moments, okay soundtrack and an original plot. But it's so damned corny, with the picture-perfect, pastel family in the suburbs. Beethoven was probably the worst movie off 1992 - actually Ferngully: the Last Rainforest was - but there are worse things you could be watching, like The Hunger Games or An Inconvenient Truth.

I was less than six years old when this successful family movie came out, and clearly remember knowing that there was a movie about a dog named Beethoven around this time. I even had the feeling I had seen this film, or at least saw some of it, back in the day, but I guess I was wrong. 1992's "Beethoven", which was followed by "Beethoven's 2nd" in 1993 and several direct-to-video sequels in the 2000's, was only brought back to my attention recently, when I learned that it was co-written by John Hughes, as I have seen a whole bunch of movies from him. When I finally watched this one after nearly two decades, none of it seemed to ring a bell, so I am now convinced I had never seen any of it before. I knew this wouldn't be an amazing film, but maybe it would still be above average to me. However, even that didn't happen.One night, two criminals break into a pet shop, kidnap all the puppies, and take them away in a truck! The puppies soon manage to get out of their cages and escape from the truck while it is in motion, and one of these puppies is a St. Bernard, who hides in a garbage can in a suburban neighbourhood for the rest of the night. Early the following morning, this puppy sneaks into one of the houses in this neighbourhood, which happens to be the house of the Newton family, and this happens while most of the family members are just getting up. The father of this family, George, does not want this St. Bernard puppy to stay here, but his wife, Alice, and children do, so he reluctantly decides to keep the dog until they can find his owner, not realizing that this animal doesn't have one. When Emily, the youngest child in the family, plays a piece by Ludwig van Beethoven, the dog barks along, so it is decided that the dog's name will be Beethoven. Beethoven grows up living with the Newtons, and makes George miserable but the rest of the family happy. Meanwhile, Harvey and Vernon, the two criminals who kidnapped Beethoven from the pet shop, are still on the loose! Herman Varnick, the veterinarian the Newtons take their dog to, is secretly collecting dogs for cruel animal experimentation, and Harvey and Vernon are working as his two henchmen! The main dog in this movie is a cute and lovable mutt, but the human characters generally aren't so outstanding. I especially didn't care much for the irritable father of the Newton family, played by Charles Grodin. He really gets unlikable as he gets so concerned about his business and says some foolish things. Ryce's (the oldest sister) crush on a boy at her school named Mark, and her attempts to get him to notice her (which Beethoven helps her with) are cheesy aspects of the story. It's also not very pleasant watching Ted, the middle son, facing several bullies at school. As a comedy, there are sporadic laughs, with some of the trouble Beethoven causes for George, certain scenes featuring the two kidnappers, Ted thinking he's scaring off the bullies with his fists when it's actually Beethoven scaring them off from behind Ted, etc., but these generally aren't very big laughs, and there aren't enough of them. There are also some completely failed attempts to be funny, such as the "Biker Woman" near the beginning and the part with the irresponsible and annoying babysitter. I also usually found the plot boring, though there certainly are some tense moments towards the end.This early 90's animal movie does have its admirers, but I still can't say I liked it, and since I found it to be so mediocre, I don't intend to watch "Beethoven's 2nd", the theatrically released sequel which came out the year after this first installment in the franchise, and certainly don't intend to watch any of the direct-to-video sequels, either, all of which were made years after the two theatrically released films and were likely just done for money. None of them appear to be popular at all, and I'm sure many fans of this original "Beethoven" movie hate them, or haven't even seen them and don't see any point in doing so. These films are probably a lot like the usually lacklustre direct-to-video sequels to Disney animated features, and I've seen a lot of those. Anyway, this 1992 film that started the franchise and is significantly more popular than all the other installments is probably very entertaining for many kids and their parents, and probably best for that type of audience. Certain others might like it, but that's probably less likely.

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