Turner & Hooch

I’ve got a Monday Matinee all planned out and ready to share with all of you today, but before I do that, I have to make a bit of an announcement.

If you look under the section marked “Additional Links”, you may notice that one of them is missing.  The contest link (which is still open), and my interview is still there, but I had to remove my Facebook link page.  Due to unforeseen circumstances, I have been blocked from promoting my blog on Facebook itself.  Whenever I try to post a link onto Facebook from this blog, a message pops up stating that the links I am trying to post have been reported as being too spammy or unsafe...whatever that means.  And apparently, I’m not the only one who this has affected.  Reportedly other Canadian Blogspot bloggers are having the same issue as I. 

So, since Facebook has put a block on my blog, I’ve made the decision to transfer the fan page to my Google+ account, and freeze Facebook completely out of the equation.  You’re more than welcome to check out my Google+ profile to read them.  And, of course, this blog will remain open as long as Blogspot lets me keep it open, so no worries about this space shutting down.  I’ll just have to be creative when it comes to getting my work out there to the public.  For the record, I have my own opinions about this latest setback...but I’ll save those for this week’s Thursday Confession.  Right now, I’m still a slight bitter about how this all happened, so I need a couple of days to really compose my true thoughts. 

In the meantime, there is life after Facebook, and this blog must go on.  So, let’s go ahead with our Monday Matinee.

The year 1989 ranks up there as one of my favourite years in motion picture history.  A lot of my favourite movies seem to be from 1989.  I’ve even done a few blog entries on movies from 1989, such as “All Dogs Go To Heaven”, and “The Little Mermaid”, but there are other great movies that came out of that year from “Batman” and “Field Of Dreams” to “Driving Miss Daisy” and “Steel Magnolias”.  There was something about 1989 that just made going to the movies so much fun.

As it so happens, today’s feature presentation happens to have been released in 1989.  On July 28, 1989, our film was released, and was a huge box office success, taking in almost double its film budget.  And this was despite the fact that a movie with a similar plot was released just four months prior.

That movie was “K-9”, and it had the star power of James Belushi, and that movie did okay as far as ticket sales went, but when our feature presentation was released, it blew the other film out of the water.

Today’s Monday Matinee is the 1989 film “Turner & Hooch”, starring Tom Hanks as Detective Scott Turner, and a Dogue de Bordeaux named Beasley as the character of Hooch.  Initially, the film was to be directed by Henry Winkler, but due to creative differences, Winkler was let go from the production, to be replaced by Roger Spottiswoode.

The movie’s plot was a simple one.  We’re introduced to Scott Turner and his lifestyle, which could basically be considered a neat freak’s man cave.  Everything has its place, his clothes are neatly pressed, his living area kept immaculately clean at all times...if I didn’t know any better, I’d say that Turner was a little bit on the OCD side.  Then again, I’m not a doctor, so I really have no business making any assumptions.

At any rate, our movie is set in the small California community of Cypress Beach.  It’s a nice, quiet community with friendly people, nice scenery, and very little crime.  It’s a perfect community for raising a family or retiring, but for someone on the police force, Cypress Beach was sort of a bore...at least it was for Turner.  In just three days, Cypress Beach would be a distant memory for Turner.  He was set to take on a new job in the larger city of Sacramento, California, where he felt his job would be more fulfilling.  After Turner moved, his former position would be taken over by David Sutton (played by Reginald VelJohnson).

But just before Turner could start packing, a murder occurs in the sleepy town of Cypress Beach.  Local junkyard owner Amos Reed is murdered, and Turner tells police chief Howard Hyde (Craig T. Nelson) that he wants to take on the case as the lead detective.  Turner believes that there might be a witness around the area that could identify who the killer was.

As it turned out, Turner was absolutely correct in his insinuation.  What he didn’t expect was that his “witness” would be in the form of a large, slobbery mutt named Hooch.

Hooch was the pet dog of Amos, and unfortunately for Turner, he was the only witness to the murder.  Mind you, Hooch was incapable of actually speaking the name of the murderer, but Turner believed that the dog could be useful in his investigation.

So, Turner makes the decision to bring Hooch home to his place to take care of him.  Now, I don’t know whether Turner was suffering from a severe lapse of judgment, or whether he felt sorry for the dog losing his master, but whatever reason, Turner would later come to regret the decision he made.

Almost immediately after Turner brings Hooch home, Hooch becomes a nightmare of a houseguest for Turner.  Hooch slobbers all over the floor, pees inside Turner’s shoes, and at some point ends up destroying almost everything the Turner owned.

Even something as simple as giving Hooch a bath proved problematic for Scott Turner.  Just have a look at this attempt.

I honestly don’t know who ended up more soaked...Turner or Hooch.

As time passed though, Turner and Hooch eventually began to bond with each other.  Turner would learn to overlook Hooch’s slobbiness and began to develop a soft spot for the mutt.  And, as it so happened, Hooch was a key player in helping Turner find a love interest in veterinarian Emily Carson (Mare Winningham), although at first Carson and Turner did not get along at all.

Now, that’s really all that I am going to share with you about the plot of this movie.  All I will say is that there is a surprise twist in regards to the murder investigation, as well as the identity of the mastermind of the whole shebang.  And by the end of the movie, someone will end up losing their life.  And, I warn you ahead of time, it’s a real heartbreaker.

But you know, if there’s one thing that this movie really displayed, it is that of a dog truly becoming man’s best friend.  Certainly, Turner was a little bit apprehensive about the idea of Hooch staying with him, but the more that he got to know Hooch, the more he realized that he liked having him around.  And I’m sure that Hooch really enjoyed staying with Turner as well.  I mean, let’s face it, his new home ended up being a huge upgrade from his old one.  But, all Hooch really needed was an owner who loved and respected him for who he was...something that Turner eventually did, although it took a little bit of time for him to come around.

That’s our mini look back on “Turner & Hooch”, and I hope that you enjoyed it.  And, just remember...no matter what happens on other places on the web, you can count on this site sticking around no matter what.  In fact, why not go ahead, bookmark this blog, and share the link with your friends?

(Just don’t share it on Facebook...it unfortunately won’t work.  L )