K-9

K-9 Movie Poster

"Meet the two toughest cops in town.  One's just a little smarter than the other".  K-9 was an action-comedy released in 1989.  The movie starred James Belushi as Detective Michael Dooley.  The movie received mixed reviews (mostly negative), but it was still a huge success at the box office.  A similar movie, called Turner & Hooch (starring Tom Hanks), was released three months later, and seems to have had more staying power than K-9.

In this movie, Detective Dooley (Belushi) is a San Diego detective with a bad attitude.  Not only do most people not like him, but he is also on the hit list of an international drug dealer named Ken Lyman (played by Kevin Tighe).  In an effort to help Dooley find drugs, he is paired up with a drug-sniffing dog named Jerry Lee, and the two go about the business of trying to nab Lyman.  Or do they?  Most of the humor in the show comes from the dog's antics.  It would appear that Jerry Lee is more interested in mischief than nabbing drug dealers.  In the end, Jerry Lee proves his merit, and the two not only save Dooley's girlfriend from the clutches of Lyman, but also kills Lyman.  And Jerry Lee, who takes a bullet for Dooley, lives to fight crime another day.