Astonishingly it took five screenwriters to come up with this somewhat hackneyed tale.
There is never any doubt that Turner will initially be horrified, but then grudgingly respect and finally become inseparable from the slobbering mutt, or that the pair will clear up the case. A romance with the town vet erodes the perfectionist in Turner and provides light relief from the antics of man and beast.
A talented cast have here taken what is essentially a silly dog story with a predictable plot and made it into a tight, funny and thoroughly professional movie. Tom Hanks once again brings his glorious physical comic talent to bear in an unlikely movie and Hooch is equally wonderful. Fascinatingly ugly, his huge jowls shaking and dripping buckets of saliva, he deserves a special canine Oscar all of his own.