MovieChat Forums > Turner & Hooch (1989) Discussion > Why this movie doesn't work (spoilers, o...

Why this movie doesn't work (spoilers, obviously)

posted 17 years ago by jgroub
57 replies | jump to latest

I thought this was a family movie, and my 8 year old daughter, who loves dogs (as I do), watched it with me. I was pretty shocked to see that he died. You can't have a family movie and the gruesome death of a dog. Fortunately, she understood when I explained that they put barbecue sauce on the real Hooch and somehow kept him from licking it off. But that's pretty horrifying for a child.

Now, I've read the other threads on this board, and there is some validity to what they say, that this ending is more realistic, and isn't the trite Hollywood ending where the dog survives. That's as may be, but they can't have it both ways. If the movie is going to be serious, then Tom Hanks has to be serious too, and shutup. If the movie is going to be light family fare, then the dog can't die. You can't have both.

I think this is the main reason the movie scores so low. I liked the movie fine, the scenes with Hanks and the dog are funny as hell, but as a whole, it doesn't work due to the very heavy ending. It's just too serious after such a cutesy movie. And it's not family-friendly at all.

Oh yeah, all that, and Tom "the bod" Hanks getting together with Mare "my face looks like a mare" Winningham. She's nice, she's an okay actor, but she's not in Tom's league. And she has that horse face. Ugh. Sorry, Mare, but your name says it all. (And what was it with showing Hanks in the tighty-whitey (or blacky) underwear for half the movie?)

I asked the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] dovesinna 16 years ago

Wow, for someone who's so critical about having to explain to their child the facts of death (or life), maybe you should sit her down and tell her exactly what you posted here about how you criticized the way Mare Winningham looks. Go ahead and tell you small child that it's okay to say someone has a face like a horse. Nothing like teaching your child to judge someone on their looks. I bet YOU'RE no walk in the park yourself. Nice family values you're teaching there.

[–] jgroub 16 years ago

Fat lot you know. I am QUITE the walk in the park.

And my daughter already knows it's okay to say someone has a face like a horse.

I asked the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] tough-buff 15 years ago

Oh relax it's the cirlce of life.

I just watched this film with my 9 YO nephew and it didn't bother him.

- Zephyr

[–] rowenad 15 years ago

I was also upset about the dog dying but do feel that it does fit in with the story and shows what loyalty the dog had for his owner.
Having a puppy just like him at the end also helped to take the sting out of the death.

I thought that the vet was very pretty and realistic not some plastic botox lollipop that we see in the films now. Tom Hanks is no oil painting either. I thought they suited each other.

[–] jgroub 15 years ago

"Hanks is no oil painting either."

Okay, now that's funny!

But at least Hanks has charisma, a winning smile, a humorous quality about him. Winningham doesn't have any of those.

I asked the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] rowenad 15 years ago

Tom Hanks has got a loud mouth and shouts all the time which can be very iratating

[–] mcgill_j 15 years ago

I just do NOT get this thread.. do we have to child proof EVERYTHING now? seriously? I mean.. spoiler alert *** The Bad guy.. at the end of Shrek? EATEN ALIVE!!!! **

I mean.. seriously.. is Shrek is MORE horrible in that it was a HUMAN that is being digested by some mythic creature? or is it.. OK.. he was the BAD GUY?

I mean.. seriously.. c'mon.. I don't think ANY of the films mentioned in this thread really advertised themselves as having DARK elements.. I mean.. I don't think the trailer for Bambi had much of "mommy ? mommy? *BANG*" or Old Yeller as Yeller is foaming and getting SHOT dead.. or.. even a more RECENT example the movie "UP" while not outright saying it in the opening FIFTEEN MINUTES deals with a beatiful child love story.. marriage.. (miscarriage? was my guess) and DEATH... then they have the BALLS to have a guy in a house with balloons and a talking dog? what up with that?

I hate to say this.. but PART of your job as a PARENT is to be the gate keeper.. and you need to really look into what you show your kids and expose them to.. and if you choose not to, at your own peril.. but make sure they have the TOOLS to understand.

Hell my first horror movie.. was probably by my EIGHTH birthday (can't really nail down an exact when) but.. I do remember implicitly we had an old DISC player (not LD player) and my mom got Texas Chainsaw Massacre.. and man.. that movie did give me nightmares.. for at least a YEAR.. but at the same time I was hooked and delved into horror.

BUT.. I knew it wasn't real.. knew it was fake.. even though part of my 8 year old brain was churning.. Texas.. just south of here.. what if he got in a truck and drove up here and... and well that's the somewhat less logical thoughs an 8 year old mind can pop out.

But.. I think a HEALTHY understanding of what's REAL and what isn't.. should serve your daughter fine.. and as long as she knows its NOT real.. but I think Hooch NOT dying would NOT have served the story they wanted to tell if you look at it.

I mean.. Scott Turner was an almost.. OCD clean freak.. and this.. thing.. being.. came into his life.. created havoc.. and mayhem.. but he really got attached to it.. and through Hooch met this other character, whom he also came attached to.. but at the same time.. to move on from Hooch.. Hooch died, but he left a legazy behind.. and a whole net set of somethings for Scott to care for.

its almost like the complete circle of life..

[–] king_of_bob 9 years ago

And my daughter already knows it's okay to say someone has a face like a horse.

Oh. So you're raising your daughter to be an *beep* who can't deal with death? Good job.

The new home of Welcome to Planet Bob: http://kingofbob.blogspot.ca/

[–] radiotheatre-1 15 years ago

Eight year-olds should be able to understand the idea of death. Just because it makes you uncomfortable doesn't mean you should pass that on to her.

In the 80's, Hollywood was not so picky about looks as they are today. This seems to have rubbed off on you, as your opinion on "horse faces" is a subjective one.

The underwear is more standard fare for 80's flicks, (boxers were for old people back then, and boxer briefs were only for athletes) pointing this out is like asking why there's so many afros in a 70's blaxploitation flick, or why are there so many songs in Snow White. Anyone who was alive back then and had seen a Calvin Klein commercial would find someone wearing white briefs to bed to be normal.

[–] jgroub 15 years ago

Thank you for the reasoned and reasonable response to my post. It's not that she doesn't understand the idea of death - her grandmother had died the year before - it's that the death in this movie is a total sucker punch compared to the light family fare that had preceded it. I certainly wasn't expecting it. More importantly, however, it was very shocking to her as a young child in a PG rated flick.

Eh, horse face or no, "Mare" Winningham simply isn't attractive. She looked her best in St. Elmo's, but I'm sure they had an entire team of makeup and hair personnel dedicated to her.

And, of course, I recall both the Calvin Klein ads as well as the famous scene in Risky Business with Tom "tighty-whities" Cruise. Again, though, it seemed a silly scene to put in the movie. Which brings me back to my original point - this light-hearted movie turned very very dark. Too dark for a family movie.

I asked the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] radiotheatre-1 15 years ago

I'm not saying she's attractive. I just disagree with the horse-face assessment.

I dunno if Turner and Hooch was meant to be a family movie. I wonder if it was advertised like that in the trailers. Just because it's not rated R doesn't mean it's a family movie. There are lots of PG movies that are not for kids, like Gremlins, Beetlejuice and Watership Down --- and that last one is animated!

Anyway, I always preferred K-9 to T&H. It's a darker movie overall, but it has the happy ending, go figure.

[–] jgroub 15 years ago

Well, you're probably right - but horse-face works for me as an overall negative comment because of her name being "Mare."

I can tell you my own memory from remembering the trailers, commercials, etc. from 20 years ago that yes, this was definitely advertised as a family movie. Cute shots of the drooling dog, etc.

And you're right about Gremlins - she was scared of that one, too (although she loved Gizmo and wanted him; but who didn't?), but movies like Gremlins and the second Indiana Jones movie (where they pull the still beating heart out of a guy's chest and show it to him) directly led to the creation of the PG-13 rating.

But even letting Gremlins be a PG-13 movie in disguise, you're still right about some PG movies being not for kids. I think the dementors make their appearance in the third Harry Potter movie, and they are pretty friggin' intense. She's 10 1/2 now, and the dementors have given her nightmares for months. We just saw the sixth movie, and told her to look away at the scene on the island (don't want to spoil it for you) - also incredibly intense, and would definitely have given me nightmares at that age.

Although she did like Beetlejuice, but that violence was pretty cartoony, and he whole tone of the movie was light. I've never seen Watership Down. And I've never seen K-9 either, so I'll keep my eyes peeled for both.

When I was 8 I saw The Omega Man and Westworld practically back to back. The white-skinned light-eyed zombies in The Omega Man freaked me out, especially when the black girl became one, and I had dreams Yul Brynner was trying to hunt me down for months. Maybe it's genetic - my daughter's a scaredy-cat because I was too!

I asked the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] radiotheatre-1 15 years ago

Wow, Westworld! No one ever talks about that movie and it rules!

The Terminator was the first R movie I ever saw, when I was 10 years old. Tho it had been out for awhile, of course. The 2nd I think was Slumber Party Massacre... and I definitely had nightmares from that. As a kid I was thinking, "Why is there no story and people are just being murdered?" I got that sickening feeling in my stomach, but after seeing that film I was pretty much inoculated against horror, and it's rare for me to get freaked out now.

I always thought Poltergeist had more to do with the PG-13 rating than Indiana Jones. And yeah, I guess the Prisoner of Azkaban had some scary moments, but sometimes as an adult I don't really...well you lose awareness of the context, because you're so used to violence and such on screen. I guess with a child you start to see things through her eyes, or at least through your own eyes again as a kid and you think, "Man if I was ten that would be scary!".

You should show her "Jurassic Park". It's basically as close to a "horror movie for kids" as you can get to. Scary enough for kids to look away, but I don't think it's scary enough for nightmares.

[–] jgroub 15 years ago

Heh, heh. After writing this to you, I went over to the Westworld boards and spent some time there. That movie does rule, doesn't it? Another one from exactly the same era that I forgot about was Soylent Green. But that one wasn't scary, just sorta weird. Seeing it again recently, it still holds up and is still pretty good. Of course, you have to deal with Charlton Heston's hammy acting, but still.

Terminator must have been pretty scary for a 10-year-old, I would think, but you didn't mention. I don't know Slumber Party Massacre, but I can guess what it must be like, and yeah, that's not going to be good.

The first R movie I ever saw was Death Wish. I have no idea what my parents were thinking, but they brought me to the theater to see this one. I thought I was 10 when I saw it, but I see it was released in 1974, which would have made me almost 9. There is a brutal and graphic rape scene, and although they covered my eyes, I still peeked through and saw.

I think you might be right about Poltergeist being in the mix with PG-13 - that is one scary-a$$ movie! - but I definitely remember both Gremlins and Temple of Doom being the main motivators, and Wikipedia backs me up, heh, heh. But yes, you're absolutely right, having a child, you have to look at movies a different way, through their eyes. The other day, her 11-year-old friend was urging her to go with her to see Avatar, which is PG-13. My daughter is very wise in the sense that she absolutely knows what she's not able to handle in terms of being scared, and she decided not to go. So me and the wife went instead, and my daughter's instincts were right. Those forest scenes when he's surrounded, no, that's waaaay too intense for a 10-year-old, or at least, for her. It was a big deal last year when we finally graduated from having to only see G movies to opening up the universe to PG movies. I can't wait until a couple of years from now when we can go and see PG-13 movies with her!

You're definitely right about Jurassic Park! Thanks for the recommendation. I will get it out from my library and show it to her. She'll dig it.

I asked the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] queueu 15 years ago

Well, your daughter should be ten by now. She might be ready for such 'non-family' films like Bambi & Old Yeller

Peace In, Chill Out, Carry On...

[–] WarpedRecord 15 years ago

I've read some of your posts in this thread (hey, I love "Westworld" too!), and I think you make some excellent points. Is this movie an action picture or a comedy? A kids' dog movie or an adult love story? Is Hooch actually Turner's friend, or something more nebulous?

The critic in me says this film isn't very good at all, but the dog lover in me can't help but be entertained by it, schizophrenic though it may be. I gave it 7/10 based on entertainment value, though the film seriously lags when Hooch isn't onscreen.

It seems like PG movies these days (as opposed to PG-13) are strictly for kids and wouldn't involved the dog's death or some of the violence in this film.

"Turner & Hooch" also has the distinction of being the last movie I saw at a drive-in. Good times.

And hey, the Vapors rock! I really think so, think so, think so ...

[–] jgroub 15 years ago

Yeah, I think schizophrenic is the right description for this movie. The movie never makes up its mind about what it wants to be, and that's why it doesn't work.

The Vapors rock? But they're One Hit Wonders!

I asked the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.

[–] WarpedRecord 15 years ago

Well, actually the Vapors had two hits if you count "Jimmie Jones," but that didn't chart in the U.S. I still like 'em even though they didn't sell as many records as they should have.

As for "Turner & Hooch," I think it tries to be too many things to too man people, and winds up satisfying no one entirely. Today we have movies like "Paul Blart: Mall Cop" and the Vin Diesel/Dwayne John-type films made for a preteen audience. If there's a dog involved, it would get a PG rating based on "caca" jokes rather than violence. If it were aimed for an older crowd, it would be more violent and less cute.

I get the feeling that "Turner & Hooch" is so schizophrenic because a lot of studio folks had their fingers in the pie and wanted to reach various demographics. Just a hunch, though.

[–] scarlettbees 15 years ago

Tom Hanks said it himself on Letterman. To paraphrase, if you're going to do this kind of movie, just don't kill the dog. I happen to love the movie, though. Because of the negative reaction to Hooch's death, dog movies are now squeaky clean. Boring.

I was about nine when the movie came out. I even saw it in the theater! Didn't cry at the dog's death, wasn't traumatized. Seeing the puppy at the end somehow made it okay.

I won't keep my little girl from seeing it. If she starts crying over the dog's death, I'll just explain to her that that's life.

So you feel you were mislead by the film's tone. But is there really anything wrong with our kids feeling bad once in a while?

[–] WarpedRecord 15 years ago

Yes, the little Hoochie at the end was probably meant to take away some of the pain. I think it's inevitable that dogs (and people) will die in movies, and I don't fault this one for taking that approach. This isn't a children's movie anyway, though sometimes it feels a bit like one. Not that a dog can't die in a children's film.

[–] king_of_bob 9 years ago

I can't help but question your claims of being a critic.

The new home of Welcome to Planet Bob: http://kingofbob.blogspot.ca/

[–] FloralArmchair 15 years ago

I was a little kid when I watched it and yes, I think I cried! BUT! There came all these little Hooch'es at the end ! Happy happy!

[–] McQueen1980 12 years ago

strangely reminded of the structure of stakeout; comedy in the middle bookended by the action/thriller/murder angle
the dog dyin kinda at the end does make sense as the owner dies at the start???

[–] LovecraftLass 12 years ago

So, family friendly to you is no dogs dying but the human guy getting stabbed in the heart at the beginning is perfectly ok? Weird. Next time either preview the movie yourself or check a movie-oriented website to find out for sure. Hmmm, where could you find one of those, I wonder?

**********
In Stranger Eons

[–] DSo1976 12 years ago

I'm pretty sure that this movie would have had to have been rated PG when it first came out what with the violence (even though it wasn't a whole lot)... Not sure if there was any swearing or not.

I wouldn't have any problems showing this to my kids (though, to be fair I don't have any). I've always had dogs and various other pets in my life, and got used to the idea of death at a fairly young age... Had a kitten that died when I was 8, several hamsters that died when I was younger than that... I think my first dog died when I was much older though (probably 16 or 17). I wasn't desensitized to death, but I understood that it was just part of life, and also that the movie was just a movie and that the dog wasn't really dead.

This wouldn't be the first family movie where an animal character died... I think it was often commmonplace when I was a kid now that I think about it. A lot of my favourite kids movies from back then had characters that died.

"You're going to need a bigger boat." - Chief Brody