Turner & Hooch

Turner and Hooch Movie Poster

Turner and Hooch, released in 1989, starred Tom Hanks as Officer Scott Turner, Craig T. Nelson as Chief Howard Hyde, and a slobbering dog named Hooch.  This movie was released just three months behind another cop/dog buddy flick called K-9 (starring James Belushi), which effectively put K-9 in the shadows.  Although Turner and Hooch faired a tad better with critics and fans, both movies earned about the same amount of money at the box office.  Some of you may remember the TV pilot based on this movie that aired in 1990 and was subsequently not put into production.

In this movie, Officer Turner (Hanks) ends up with Hooch after Hooch’s owner, a friend of Turner’s, is murdered.  Turner is not happy with his lot in life, and wishes to leave the little town of Cypress Beach, California for the mean streets of Sacramento.  Turner asks Chief Hyde (Nelson) if he can investigate his friend’s murder, considering that Turner has taken in the only witness (Hooch), and Hyde reluctantly agrees.  In the meantime, Hooch turns Turner’s life upside down, destroying his car, his house, and ultimately setting the wheels in motion for Turner’s romantic relationship with the town veterinarian.