Is a dog, man's best friend, well, Tom Hanks doesn't think so - at first that is. Turner and Hooch is certainly lightweight entertainment that goes about its business with a clean spirit and a lack of any pretensions, retelling the buddy-cop story with one of the buddies being substituted by a big, hairy mutt. This is pre-Oscar-winning Tom Hanks, phoning in a performance with the relative idiosyncrasies that made him a comic star in the early eighties, all present and correct. While 'lightweight' is the most polite way to describe the film - a Roger Spottiswoode offering that is rather unmemorable - its slight charm and straightforward nature make for an enjoyable, if decidedly, thin film that rather passes by your consciousness than leaves any lasting impression.
Tom Hanks plays Detective Scott Turner, an excessively clean-cut cop whose life is turned upside down when a dog named Hooch comes to live in his house after the dog's owner, and Turner's friend, is murdered. Turner begrudgingly puts up with the dog knowing it is the only witness to the murder, hoping that at some point, the dog might be able to help the police find the killer. The problem though, is Turner might not have the patience because his tidy existence is put on hold as Hooch tears apart all that he holds dear.
The job of these types of movies must be to offer an element of escapism in a feel-good, happy-ending kind of way, shouldn't they? How can you put Tom Hanks in a film where the only character he has to play off is a dog, and expect anything other than Sunday afternoon entertainment for all the family. But Turner and Hooch doesn't really find its footing as Spottiswoode struggles with such thin material to make anything other than Hanks and the pooch's personal war, interesting. The crime plot and romantic angle are dealt with in such a trivial way the film becomes bogged down in itself, with its most appealing aspects left as little titbits that occur every so often. Yet the film does succeed when it doesn't let the plot get in the way of Turner and Hooch's dysfunctional relationship, which acts like a sort of education in reverse-domesticity, and it's rather satisfying that Spottiswoode is able to make the buddy-cop motif work between an animal and a human being. The scene when Turner takes Hooch on stakeout is great fun and Turner's observation that Hooch's drooling problem looks like he swallowed a tennis shoe with the laces hanging out is delightful humour, certainly as Hanks delivers it with the dry wit we're so accustomed to.
Turner and Hooch's problem is that it's so light it floats away - there's very little substance and it has as much subtext as Hooch's toilet habits. Tom Hanks certainly saves the film from being utterly forgettable, and as films with canines go, this one has all the cutesy 'that's a good dog' moments and 'man's best friend' jokes it needs to succeed as a slight but fun entry into the annals of eighties Hollywood cinema. The film can be quite funny at times, and at others exceptionally dull but it will more than likely work for its target audience - one for the kids then.
A brief look at the Region 2 DVD
The first thing to note is that the region 1 edition received an anamorphic widescreen transfer but sadly, this does not. Therefore the image is fighting a losing battle to begin with and while the picture quality isn't bad, it could certainly have been a lot better. Throughout the image lacks depth and clarity, providing muddy colours that seem a little washed out and quite grey, but this could have something to do with the minimal colour palette of the photography. Nevertheless the image is soft and the print has some noticeable dirt marks and grain. On the plus side, night shots do look fine with black level and contrast appearing natural. Turner and Hooch is presented in its original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1.
The film is presented with a Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack which is about as inspiring as the picture quality but you can't mock it for being poor as it does what it should do. Dialogue is clear but appears fairly mono with most noticeable separation being action sequence ambience across the front channels and score material.
Overview
A Tom Hanks catalogue title that is neither bad nor particularly good - this film slots in with his enjoyable if passable eighties films such as The Man with One Red Shoe and Volunteers. The DVD is hardly adequate offering nothing of note to entice the consumer but the film's presentation is good enough to merit a purchase at a budget price, but the better option must be the region 1 which has an anamorphic transfer.