This movie used to be on pretty much every new year’s eve in the 90s. Eventually I decided OK I’ll watch it. Funny for me because when I was a kid I had a phobia of dogs (making one wonder why I became a paperboy in my teens!), but I decided to watch it. I remember well that particular year because Apollo 13 was also on later, and I had decided to record that. I watched K-9 without recording it but my mother didn’t quite get the message of what I was committing to tape, and either later that evening or the next day thought I’d recorded it. I did when it came on the next new year’s eve so all’s well that ends well.
Then in 2005 I got the DVDs of both K-9 and Apollo 13 (another film we probably should cover here come to think of it!), and noticed that the early evening version I had recorded had been softened a little in tone, just the odd bit here and there to make it suitable for evening viewing. The execution of Freddie the snitch was cut from that BBC broadcast, but still heavily implied by the cold tone on Lyman’s features as the scene ended - I saw that for the first time when I got the DVD, and equally, wen Dooley woke up and found out how much had come out of one animal in the night, his euphemised “oh crap” had become something stronger. Those are the only two I can think of, but it’s enough.
As for the film itself, well, you can guess that it’s something I like. I remember the first time I saw it, it was clearly stated that the star was James Belushi - who I only know for this film and its two sequels - but I remembered thinking he looked a lot like Bill Murray, but acted faster.
When I watched the DVD again this week, for the first time in too long - the trouble with having such a big collection of DVDs and especially CDs is that one can’t get around to everything as quickly as one would like! It was good to see it again. Some details were etched in my memory, especially the scene in the bar with Benny the Mule, when Jerry Lee the dog comes in and Dooley introduces him as “Officer Lewis” - and then it’s Benny who has the “great balls of fire” moment when that dog makes the ultimate threat, backed up by Dooley making announcements like “lunch time!” - ouch! But other details had slipped my memory in the intervening years, like when Dooley and Tracy are in bed and Jerry Lee comes sneaking in, the use of the Jaws music for that moment is beautifully effective here.
A lot of the movie is a double-act between Dooley and Jerry Lee, with the dog always having the upper hand. Even when Dooley thinks he’s getting one over on the dog by giving him a shower at the car wash, Jerry Lee has his revenge instantly. I mentioned the Jaws music just before but other songs are also used to great effect in the movie - it highlights the importance of the soundtrack. The right song in the right place can tell the story more effectively than any dialogue, and the two songs used for the dog having his way with that poodle, firstly “Oh Yeah” and afterwards “I Got You (I Feel Good)” are bang on the money.
Actually Jaws is not the only 70s film this one pays homage to. It struck me that there’s a lot of influence from Dirty Harry in this - an observation I had to make about Die Hard when I saw it the other week too. Probably a lot of cop movies have that echo, establishing the character’s unconventional methods getting the job done in an early scene, in this case Dooley renting a car purely to crash into the warehouse to get the villains out. But hey, it worked! But also the Dirty Harry influence probably does extend to the higher than normal body count for what is technically a comedy. If you’ve seen the “screwball comedy trailer” that someone made for Die Hard, that’s not a bad assessment of K-9 come to think of it.
And that ending - the predictable cliched moments there, but done with a lot more drama. Lyman gets gunned down, and Dooley and Tracy take Jerry Lee to a hospital because it’s nearer than a vet, that’s actually a very interesting twist, because that scene is played completely straight, no jokes in it or anything. I guess they’re trying to make us appreciate just how close that dog is to death. And when Dooley pours his heart out to what he thinks is a dead dog, only to be told that Jerry Lee is in fact alive, and then taking back every word he says . . . only for Jerry Lee to lick his face all over. You know that man and dog have truly bonded.
And I got over my phobia too. Probably not because of this film, but every little helps. This film still has a special place in my heart.
:biggrin One thing that I did find a bit odd is that usually in comedy movies like this, the death count is usually kept to a minimum. The villains and his henchmen would get into really dangerous situations but still come out alive (covered in soot or mud or other such standard comedic gag). But I was surprised that quite a few deaths were featured in this movie.