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Beethoven

Beethoven

Family · Comedy · 1992

The Newton family live in their comfortable home, but there seems to something missing. This "hole" is filled by a small puppy, who walks into their home and their lives. Beethoven, as he is named, grows into a giant of a dog... a St Bernard. Doctor Varnick, the local vet has a secret and horrible sideline, which requires lots of dogs for experiments. Beethoven is on the bad doctor's list.

Movie details

Beethoven

“The head of the family is the one with the tail.”

1992 Family · Comedy 1h 27m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

5.8 / 10

Community rating

The Newton family live in their comfortable home, but there seems to something missing. This "hole" is filled by a small puppy, who walks into their home and their lives. Beethoven, as he is named, grows into a giant of a dog... a St Bernard. Doctor Varnick, the local vet has a secret and horrible sideline, which requires lots of dogs for experiments. Beethoven is on the bad doctor's list.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over Beethoven?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Brian Levant

Written by

Amy Holden Jones · John Hughes

Chris the Dog

Chris the Dog

Beethoven

Charles Grodin

Charles Grodin

George Newton

Bonnie Hunt

Bonnie Hunt

Alice Newton

Dean Jones

Dean Jones

Dr. Varnick

Nicholle Tom

Nicholle Tom

Ryce Newton

Christopher Castile

Christopher Castile

Ted Newton

Sarah Rose Karr

Sarah Rose Karr

Emily Newton

Court is in session

Put Beethoven on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Popcorn Loyalist

“It owes the canon nothing.”

The movie pursues immediacy and audience pleasure without begging institutions to certify its worth.

The prosecution The Big-Idea Head

“Easy pleasure, short half-life.”

It moves efficiently through the moment but offers little reason to keep arguing once the credits end.