K-9 (1989) User Reviews (60)

Not a buddy-cop movie..... quite.

[Bing-18 · 7/10 · 28 May 1999]

For a short time during the eighties, Hollywood discovered to concept of the Buddy-Dog movie with this and Turner & Hooch coming out in the same year.

This is probably the funniest of the two with Belushi delivering another wonderful comic performance. However, it is probably slightly poorer than the Tom Hanks film as the script is less rounded, with only the fairly run-of-the-mill drug smuggling story to occupy you.

However, the action and laughs keep coming throughout the movie, leaving another underrated, overlooked comedy gem from Belushi. I can't wait for the sequel coming out this year.

Buddy-buddy cop tale with a twist

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 3 January 2018]

K-9 is a buddy-buddy cop comedy with a difference: one of the partners is a dog. That's the premise for this light and likeable late '80s film which trades on the success of the likes of LETHAL WEAPON although it's aimed at a younger audience. It gets by on the charisma of the underrated James Belushi, who has a strong enough presence to carry a movie and who does well acting against a German Shepherd. Inevitably the well-trained pooch steals all of his scenes, the highlight being the encounter in the bar with an imposing Pruitt Taylor Vince. The rest is a usual mix of romantic staples, familiar bad guy antics, and action scenes.

Superior to the Chuck Norris/Dog Attempt, And One Of Belushi's Finest.

[FiendishDramaturgy · 7/10 · 22 April 2007]

This is NOT the best cop/dog movie, but it IS superior to the Chuck Norris/pooch flick. Personally, I found Turner and Hooch to be superior to this work, but it is still enjoyable, and comes in second to my favorite.

HOwever, this is witty, and funny enough to be endearing, without resorting to Jim Belushi's usual tactics, although he does employ the beginning of those posturing and chest-beating tactics here. But they are not so dominant that the movie suffers. In fact, they play well in this situation, though it IS sad to watch a grown man who is romantically jealous of a dog.

This fails any Oscar possibilities, but I do not honestly believe that would surprise those involved with this work. The bottom line: This is a fun movie. It fails to warm the heart as well as Turner and Hooch, but does not make you feel sorry for the dog like some other movies have, along this venue. It is entertaining and fun, and rates a 6.6/10 from...

the Fiend :.

The funniest Cop/Dog comedy yet

[MovieKing-4 · 9 July 2000]

James Belushi is the cop, Dewley, who seems to have spent most of his time chasing after the same guy, the drug lord Lyman played Kevin Tighe. And is then finally forced to get a partner in the shape of Jerry Lee the German Shepard dog. They have a very comedic relationship quite like that of Turner and Hooch.

Things take a dangerous turn for Dewley and Jerry Lee when Dewley's girlfriend Tracey, played by Mel Harris, is taken hostage by Lyman. A tragic outcome that turns out great in the end, and even Jerry Lee gets to have a girlfriend.

Great acting by James Belushi, Mel Harris and Jerry Lee. A score of 7 out of 10.

Paper pushing pansy.....

[FlashCallahan · 7/10 · 23 January 2012]

The extravagant cop Michael Dooley needs some help to fight a drug dealer who has tried to kill him.

A "friend" gives him a dog named Jerry Lee, who has been trained to smell drugs.

With his help, Dooley sets out to put his enemy behind the bars, but Jerry Lee has a personality of his own and works only when he wants to.

On the other hand, the dog is quite good at destroying Dooley's car, house and sex-life...

This was one of those films that I absolutely loved as a kid, and could watch it over and over, because who wouldn't like a film where a dog can say 'oh oh'? Take the element of the dog away, and you pretty much have a dog of a story though. It's basically the buddy cop movie with a twist, and thanks to Belushi being quite likable, the film manages to be funny whenever the dog is off screen.

Support is okay, but it looks like they are just letting the two get on with it.

It's harmless stuff, one of those movies you will find on TV one Sunday afternoon, and still be able to enjoy it through rose tinted specs.

Still miles better than Turner and Hooch.

Lovely movie

[biaginomartino · 7/10 · 28 December 2021]

Still a good story, still a good action movie! Jim Belushi is an amazing actor and we will never forget his wonderful part in this fantastic movie.2021 and I still fell sames feeling like the first time when I was a kid.

Great K-9 actor; the 80s were gold for family comedy

[OneAnjel · 7/10 · 13 April 2021]

If you remember the 80s raise your hand. Up high, now. Yes, me, too! The 80s were a great decade. America loved its law enforcement and loved anything with an animal star. They loved movies that were a little funny, a little romantic, and a little over the top on artistic license. This includes films like Space Balls, Weird Science, Beetlejuice, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Blues Brothers, Ghostbusters... wow, the list is positively endless. Anything with a star from Saturday Night Live was pretty much gold at the box office, including Jim and John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, & Eddie Murphy who all gave us endless hours of good fun. K-9 is not really at the top of that list; however, it's a watchable film for anyone who misses the simple times and normal gender roles. I think anyone in the police force or military who work with dogs will appreciate this film, too. I'm sure a lot of the current cancel-culture would find it offensive to men, offensive to women, offensive to cops, and offensive to mustangs, as well as abusive to dogs. But for those who know that it's just good fun and the dog seems to love acting, this film is great for watching something cute and furry to relax and have a good time. Some laugh out loud moments included.

Much better!

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 6/10 · 17 October 2006]

I watched K-911 first before this movie, I didn't realize that it was a sequel. Not to mention, not a very good one at that. Jim wasn't doing a good job convincing me that he was just as good of a comedian as his brother, he isn't still, but this movie showed a little better of what talent he could have. K-9 was more fun than the sequel, I can tell you that much, because it revolved better around the story.

This story shows how Dooley met his K-9 partner, Jerry Lee. As stereotypical as it sounds, Dooley is your typical stands by his own crazy rules type of a cop, he also refuses to get a partner, but eventually decides the best way to do it is to get a cop dog. Figures that the dog would be easier to command and he'd be in charge. He is also trying to bust a drug run and his girlfriend gets involved, unintentionally. He finds out that Jerry Lee proves himself more useful than Dooley takes him for.

Over all, I'd say this is a fun little movie to watch on a Saturday afternoon. It has some fun humor and cute moments where you just automatically fall in love with Jerry Lee, I guess Dooley isn't such a bad guy after all. Believe me when I say to skip the sequel and stick to K-9.

6/10

Buddy movie about a special couple , a cop and his dog .

[ma-cortes · 5/10 · 5 January 2005]

The picture talks about James Belushi a quirky policeman who develops lonely his mission with the aim to track down an important drug peddler (Kevin Thige). The police chief (James Handy) assigns him as couple , a hound dog (Jerry Lee was played by Rando, a 3-year-old German Shepherd from West Germany and trained for 3 months) . They will have to confront deal of dangers while his fiancée (Mel Harris) is abducted .

The motion picture is a particular buddy movie because the starring are one person and one dog , the comedy and giggles regarding both of them are interminable . Over 40 dogs were considered but none of the American German Shepherds were deemed suitable . A year-long search was held to find the right dog for the role . The dog chosen , Rando , learned to understand commands in English . There's a previous picture concerning to similar theme upon policeman-dog relationship : ¨Turner and Hooch¨ , both of them are similar , though I think the best results to be the film featured by Tom Hanks.

The flick blends humor , action-packed , car pursuits , tongue-in-cheek , it's amusing but there are moments that is a little boring but when the dog appears is enough bemusing . The film obtained success at the box office ; however , ten years later , the same starring James Belushi and the dog (or different dog because had deceased) made a second part what failed and was direct-to-video . Subsequently had a third part that was another flop . The flick will appeal to action comedy buffs and dog lovers. Rating : Average 5'5/10

Good rainy day movie

[MacgyverColumbo · 7/10 · 2 May 2007]

If your sitting around have nothing to do go to watch a movie well this is a pretty good one to watch. This is my second favorite James Bulushi movie after Real men. I love the way the movie starts with them shooting up Bulushi's car they always seem to be shooting up his cars in these k9 movies. It's decent action movie with some funny moments. Hey some big dogs humping my Aretha,Oh! I feel good. Belushi's girl friend in this movie is extremely hot I give her a 10. The dogs pretty good in the movie even though I don't really like that type of dog. All around it's a good movie. Bulushi never ends up beating that weird little game he's always playing.

no great laughs

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 8 January 2018]

San Diego Police detective Michael Dooley (Jim Belushi) is sure that he's getting close when a helicopter gunman blows up his car. His girlfriend Tracy has had enough. He is told that it's drug lord Ken Lyman (Kevin Tighe). He gets a police dog as his partner. Sgt. Brannigan (Ed O'Neill) gives him Jerry Lee, a smart independent dog.

There isn't much to this buddy cop movie. Belushi plays the traditional wild and irreverent cop. Jerry Lee is his smarter, doggier partner. It's not quite as stupid and jokey as expected but it does lean on the broad cop movie tropes. It's too simple to make fun of Belushi. He develops a nice love-hate relationship with the dog. There simply aren't any great laughs. It's tough when jokes fall flat.

One of the best canine-cop movies I've seen!!

[michaelzstuff · 9/10 · 18 June 2006]

James Belushi) is a "loose cannon" cop. He has to do everything his own way on his own time and doesn't know the meaning of the word, "team-work" But after he screws up his last bust by buying a car from a car dealer and five minutes later proceeds to crash it into a building where the bad guys are dealing dope, he is assigned a new partner, a dog! To be exact. A rouge German Shepard that wants to be treated more like a person than a dog.

Belushi is very convincing and hilarious in his role as a cop, and the dog, surprisingly (I never thought I'd write this), was a great actor and did a terrific job. Hat's off to his handler!

There are predictable and very typical cop vs. bad guy moments, but overall I thought the movie was an extremely funny cop-doggy comedy, with a very predictable but humorous ending to it.

When compared to other cop-dog movies like "Turner and Hooch," it's a credit to Belushi's comedic timing that this film wound up on the top 250!

Still a solid film 30 years later.

[faroutsea · 7/10 · 18 May 2020]

Fun movie car chases, & dog work done well. Some may mark down due to incorrect dog training or 'how dogs do it' but a sense of humor still funny 30 years on come on.

If you want to know anything about K-9 training look for the words 'positive reinforcement'.

Very average

[TBJCSKCNRRQTreviews · 5/10 · 9 January 2004]

I haven't seen a lot of "dog" movies, but I'm pretty sure most of the others are better than this. The plot is just the typical 90's action cop vs. drug-lord movie, and is absolutely nothing special and is not offering anything new. I found the dog very annoying, with nearly no redeeming qualities, at all. I don't know if it's supposed to play on most peoples unconditional love for a dog, but it didn't work on me. I watched this movie mainly to see a movie with James Belushi, and he does his typical stuff in this movie too, and he is pretty funny, if you like this type of humor. I don't think anyone who isn't either a fan of James Belushi, or a lover of dogs, would like this movie. In fact, they might even hate it. If it wasn't for Belushi, I'd have hated the movie. Belushi, and a little role by Ed O'Neill saved this for me. I truly, deeply, *hated* the dog, for every single moment he was in the movie, apart from one or two scenes, or a few things it did. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who isn't in one of the two aforementioned groups. 5/10

Easily the best of the dog and companion comedies that all came out at the same time as this

[leopard-59572 · 4 January 2020]

We all know with this type of movie what to kind of expect from the actors but the dog always steals the show it seems and in this one, it is clearly the case too and for this reason only Jerry Lee wins hands down, he is so smart and funny that the other dog movies are nothing compared to this, he is amazing and i feel in love with him from the first few shots, an amazing dog who would be fantastic in any movie and Jim Belushi seems his perfect sidekick too. What a pairing these too make - don't miss this one and don't sit in front of the tv with a mouth full of drink unless you want your tv to get soaked from uncontrollable laughter.

K About a 7

[questl-18592 · 7/10 · 23 May 2021]

This is another one of those movies I struggle to be really unbiased on. I remember sitting back with my grandfather when I was younger, popping in K-9 over and over and just LOVING Jerry Lee and Belushi. This was such a mainstay in our house. We quoted it constantly, compared other dogs to Jerry. But I do think this is a fun movie, especially if you're looking for a slightly serious cop/dog movie with some serious 80s vibes.

The strange chemistry between the Alpha Dog and the Beta Cop!!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 13 September 2020]

James Belushi is a case for study, on the eighties he had his peak of his career on many leading pictures, today he was almost forgotten in smallest roles, it means he didn't age well, undoubtedly he was charismatic and funny, K-9 was a smashing success at box-office and had some sequels, the picture itself is rather dumb and silly, in other hand is heartwarming, the chemistry between Dooley (Belushi) and the gripping Jerry Lee is inventive and fresh, the Dog is plenty smarter than the odd Cop, the dog steals the show soundly, at first appearance the Dog has wasn't yet socialized, however he slowly is acquiring a tight connectivity with Dooley, also Jerry Lee is an Alpha dog, thus Dooley is the Beta cop in their interplay, it was put on the script on purpose in order to get the audience empathy for the friendly dog, we ought just forget the usual chasing for drugs dealers displayed in the plot, pay attention on the cutting dialogues between Dooley and Jerry Lee, there's life on it, connivance and a lot of funniest sequence, worthwhile see this quirky comedy!!

Resume:

First watch: 1993 / How many: 3 / Source: TV-DVD / Rating: 7.25

Funny

[Calicodreamin · 6/10 · 11 April 2021]

A funny buddy cop movie, with a canine twist. The plot itself had no real substance, and felt a bit unfinished at the end. Belushi plays a fun role and has a few good riffs trying to "outsmart" Jerry Lee.

Its passable !

[asd29 · 6/10 · 9 July 2019]

Probably equals turner and hooch the rival cop and dog buddy comedy movie starring tom hanks released in the same year, its quite funny and the film has some good action with some serious elements, nothing brilliant but at least it tries to mix the genres up and be different, but overall its just a routine movie that offers no more than its clone movie turner and hooch (1989).

Soulless

[billypilgrim23 · 1/10 · 12 March 2014]

Soulless piece of hackery concerning a particularly unsympathetic police-man who gets a dog as a partner.

Every single "joke" in the movie is a cliché that's been done a gazillion times before. Belushi cannot act and fails to prevent his real-life shitty personality from manifesting on screen. Couple that with generic directing, crappy script, mediocre acting- it were better had this movie never been made.

A total turd of a film.

Belushi is a real jack-ass.

The dog was OK.

James Belushi's last good movie

[caspian1978 · 6/10 · 25 August 2002]

Ok, just about every James Belushi fan will want to kill me after I make this comment, but, what the hell. It's been over 13 years, an except for Taking Care of Business and maybe Mr. Destiny, what the hell has James Belushi done that's good? Ok, he's made some funny cameos and done a lot of straight to video crap that's paid his rent throughout the 90's, but what "good" movies has he done? K-9 was his best, or at least, his last best film. It was one of few comedies that made you laugh and put you on the edge of your seat with what was going to happen towards the end of the movie. Dubbed as the "Dog" comedy ( other than Turner & Hooch) that the dog doesn't die from the gun shot. For that reason, K-9 beats out Tom Hank's "Doggy" comedy for being the better family film of 1989!

The Only Thing Good About This Movie is the Dog

[The-Sarkologist · 5/10 · 20 May 2013]

This is a typical Hollywood cop movie, you can tell this when at the beginning a car is shot up with a machine gun and it blows up. I do really doubt that a simple machine gun will cause a car to blow up. I think that it will more likely riddle it with holes and leak petrol everywhere.

K-9 is about a cop with a attitude. He is on the trail of a drug lord who is smuggling drugs through Los Angeles. This is the typical cop movie where the drug smuggler is an ultra-rich millionaire and also very untouchable, and even an idol to the community. Dooley (James Belushi) is simply a cop with a very bad attitude and simply has a problem with the human race. This is why I find it strange that he has a girlfriend, and in reality downright unrealistic. At the beginning of the movie he is having a row with her, and honestly he doesn't even seem to want to make it work out, and when things start to fall apart, it is not his fault. Seriously, Dooley really needs to open his eyes and look at himself.

He doesn't want to work with a human, but realises that he needs a dog to find some drugs in a warehouse, so he helps out a friend by catching two gunmen, after ramming a very expensive car which he hired using somebody else's credit card, through the front of a house. And the car rental guy lets him get away with it – he was asking to loose that car. Anyway, He gets the dog and the dog turns out to be a lemon. He searches the warehouse only to find a guy smoking a joint, while Dooley is becoming the laughing stock of the warehouse workers.

Now the dog is good, a little too human in parts, but good. I love German Shepherds, they are just the most beautiful dogs, so that is why I liked this movie. If it wasn't for the dog then there wouldn't have been much to make this movie. The dog has its quirks, which makes it interesting. If the dog didn't have a mind of its own, nor acted like a human, then this movie would have been nothing. It is only that the dog with an attitude gets stuck with a cop with an attitude that this movie rises above garbage.

I Love It

[TheHig · 9/10 · 24 January 2004]

As a young child, K-9 was one of my favourite films, and although my tastes have matured with time, this is still a very funny film, with one of the most underrated actors ever, James Belushi. Playing the superb Bill Murray deadpan style, but usually as a cop, rather than Murray's humorous loser roles, Belushi is a likeable dodgy cop. The end scene in the hospital is the best man and dog conversation ever, although Jerry Lee jumping in the poodle's car runs it pretty close.

My rating : 9 out of 10

Doggy fun

[Cedric_Catsuits · 6/10 · 16 July 2007]

Rather lack-lustre and thin on plot, saved only by the acting and comedy timing of the great Koton/Jerry Lee. Belushi's portrayal of a brash, maverick cop rather lacks the humour one might expect, and the movie would have benefited from rather less of him and more of the dog.

Less than 20 years on, the film hasn't aged too well either. It fails to capture the 80's glamour and opulence, and the sound track is totally forgettable. Outside of the two main protagonists there are no notable performances, and the only other point of interest is the tatty old Mustang.

Dog lovers should enjoy this, though this is no excuse for not making more of an effort with the plot. Harmless fun, but don't go out of your way to see it.

Same Movie, Same Year

[view_and_review · 4/10 · 17 March 2020]

In this episode of "Same Movie Same Year," we have "K-9" and "Turner & Hooch" released in 1989. Both starred comedians who played California cops on a big case. Both somehow wound up with a dog in their lives that became their default partner. They both were at odds with their canine coworker until the dog was shot in the line of duty where we got the fraught stressful ending in which we were supposed to be concerned the dog may die. It was then that they realized how much they loved the animal.

Neither movie was all that good, but "K9" was even worse because it had Jim Belushi and a worse plot. Belushi plays this cowboy hero type cop who was trying to stop and put behind bars this big-time drug dealer named Lyman (Kevin Tighe) (as if cops take down super drug dealers by themselves all the time). Jim Belushi does these stupid soliloquies throughout the movie as though his riffs are funny when they are far from it. He does one unrealistic and illegal stunt after another in pursuit of Lyman, I guess, to make things exciting. Eventually, they went real cliché by having his girlfriend kidnapped. And what kind of movie would it be if he didn't get her back?

This formula didn't work. Jim Belushi playing a hero all by himself + a dog did not equal good. The loose cannon cop routine was tired and out of place and dogs aren't that funny though they get the lion's share of animal films. Yeah, this movie could've been a lot worse, but it also could've been a lot better.