K-9

"Meet the two toughest cops in town. One's just a little smarter than the other!"

1989 1h 41m EN

😐

6.2

MID

🥫

36%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.1

IMDB

★6.2TMDB · 1,095🥫36%Rotten Tomatoes●44Metacritic★6.1IMDB · 38,033

ActionComedyCrime

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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 (Officer Lewis), 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...

“Meet the two toughest cops in town. One's just a little smarter than the other!”

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Cast

Jim Belushi
Mike Dooley
Mel Harris
Tracy
Kevin Tighe
Lyman
Ed O'Neill
Brannigan
James Handy
Captain Byers
Daniel Davis
Halstead
Cotter Smith
Gilliam
John Snyder
Freddie

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Rod Daniel
Writers: Scott Myers, Steven Siegel
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 4.6× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

37 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "K-9 Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Rod Daniel, shot by Dean Semler. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Miles Goodman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Lois Freeman-Fox shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Jim Belushi and Mel Harris and Kevin Tighe carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Meet the two toughest cops in town. One's just a little smarter than the other!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Rod Daniel directs. Dean Semler behind the camera. Miles Goodman scores. Lois Freeman-Fox cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 4.6× over at the box office.
237 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Part of the "K-9 Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
4Directed by Rod Daniel, shot by Dean Semler. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Miles Goodman. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Lois Freeman-Fox shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Jim Belushi and Mel Harris and Kevin Tighe carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Meet the two toughest cops in town. One's just a little smarter than the other!".
9IMDB entry: tt0097637 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 15 themes, including "helicopter", "shadowing", "police operation", "cop".

The technical file

Cinematography: Dean Semler
Original score: Miles Goodman
Editing: Lois Freeman-Fox
Production design: George Costello
Costume design: Eileen Kennedy
Makeup / hair: Karoly Balazs
Stunt coordinator: Gary Combs
Runtime: 101 min · 1h 41m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $17,000,000
Box office: $78,247,647
Return: 460% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: K-9 (1989)
Rotten Tomatoes: 36% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 44/100
IMDB rating: 6.1/10 · 38,033 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Part of

K-9 Collection

K-9 is a 1989 American action-comedy film starring James Belushi and Mel Harris. It was directed by Rod Daniel, written by Steven Siegel and Scott Myers, produced by Lawrence Gordon and Charles Gordon, and released by Universal City Studios. The film has two sequels, K-911 (1999) and K-9: P.I. (2002), both being direct-to-video. K-9 was released exactly three months before Turner & Hooch (with Tom Hanks), which had a similar plot.

Also by

Rod Daniel

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2017-12-31
★ 7/10
The super cop and James Belushi! Pursuing crime boss Lyman, maverick cop Dooley is tipped over the edge when a false lead ends up with an attempt on his life. Determined to finally get his man, Dooley enlists the help of a police dog called Jerry Lee (The Killer) to hopefully sniff out the drugs that he knows Lyman is involved in. Trouble is is that Dooley has no idea how to treat a dog and Jerry Lee is more of a maverick cop than he is! Given its low rating, it's hard to know what sort of film the critics and general movie watching public were expecting with this one. Since a buddy buddy cop movie staring James Belushi and a German Shepherd Dog doesn't say anything other than the film we actually get. By the time of K-9's release it was evident what sort of film would be Belushi's staple money earner, the kind that called for him to play the cocky quipper with a glint in his eye. Belushi would try to abandon his buffoonery roles post Curly Sue (who could blame him after that mess really?), and attempt to be a more dramatic action type actor. It wouldn't work, his excellent performances in Oliver Stone's Salvador and The Principal (the latter also criminally undervalued) were long behind him. So you hear the name James Belushi in relation to films and you by and large think larking about action comedies. Coming a year after Red Heat (it looks like Belushi is wearing the same suit from that film in this one!), K-9 delivers exactly what it screamed out it would from the off. Technically the film has very few things to recommend, but as a family friendly action comedy it has much to laud. The interplay between man and dog is great fun, they are both members of the animal kingdom, they both got needs and they are both great cops. Yes we are never in any doubt that after a troubled start, this pairing are going to become firm friends, and that ultimately, by hook, crook and paw, they will get the job done. Belushi has a nice line in facial comedy and he also never comes up short in delivering quips with panache, and a confidence that often belies the trouble his characters are often in. The dog too is hilarious (hats of to animal handler Robert Zides). Courtesy of writers Steven Siegel & Scott Myers, this is a dog that eats chili and wants to vie with Dooley for Tracy's affections (Mel Harris as Dooley's frustrated girlfriend). It makes for a number of funny set-ups that both man and beast revel at being involved in. Kevin Tighe as villain Lyman is a touch under written, and the obligatory emotional heart tugger moment now looks like over egging the formula pudding. But this is harmless witty fun that gets in and does its job without proclaiming to be anything other than what it is. 7/10

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