Unlike the MPAA we do not assign
one
inscrutable rating based on age, but 3 objective ratings for SEX/NUDITY, VIOLENCE/GORE
and PROFANITY on a scale of 0 to 10, from lowest to highest,
depending on quantity and context.
Family takes in stray St. Bernard puppy, names him
Beethoven, grows to love him and ends up pulling together to save him from becoming part
of an evil vet's experiment. Charles Grodin stars.
SEX/NUDITY 1 - The husband and wife are seen lying in bed together talking
and/or sleeping. Once, the husband thinks his wife is getting frisky, but discovers it's
only the dog.
VIOLENCE/GORE 2 - The vet strikes Beethoven to provoke an attack and
convince the family to allow him to put the dog to sleep. When the vet and his
"dog-nappers" are discovered, a struggle ensues. The vet ends up with a tray of
needles in his chest; his thugs get attacked by Dobermans - but we don't see the attack,
only the men in bandages afterward.
DISCUSSION TOPICS - Initially, puppies are stolen from a pet store. Later, grown
dogs are also kidnapped. Although we never see any harm come to the dogs, the thought of a
veterinarian using family pets for experiments may be disturbing.
MESSAGE - Good triumphs over evil as the family saves their dog. For adults,
there is the family-is-more-important-than-job missive.
A CAVEAT: We've gone through several editorial changes since we
started covering films in 1992 and some of our early standards were
not as stringent as they are now. We therefore need to revisit many
older reviews, especially those written prior to 1998 or so; please
keep this in mind if you're consulting a review from that period.
While we plan to revisit and correct older reviews our resources are
limited and it is a slow, time-consuming process.
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