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…
Credits: TheMovieDb.
Film Cast:
- Mike Dooley: Jim Belushi
- Tracy: Mel Harris
- Lyman: Kevin Tighe
- Brannigan: Ed O’Neill
- Captain Byers: James Handy
- Halstead: Daniel Davis
- Gilliam: Cotter Smith
- Freddie: John Snyder
- Benny the Mule: Pruitt Taylor Vince
- Dillon: Sherman Howard
- Chad: Jeff Allin
- Doctor: David Haskell
- Rental Salesman: Alan Blumenfeld
- Salesman Don: William Sadler
- Receptionist: Marjorie Bransfield
- Cop: Mark Mooring
- Ernie: Jerry Levine
- Waiter: Rick Cicetti
- Maitre D’: Dan Castellaneta
- Girl with Dog: Wendel Meldrum
- Man in Rolls Royce: John Castellanos
- Woman in Rolls Royce: Colleen Morris
- Sergeant: McKeiver Jones III
- Pimp: J.W. Smith
- Butler: Dean Hill
- Sculley: Gary Combs
- Latino Employee: Steve Artiaga
- Nurse: Lucy Butler
- Security Guard: Vic Cuccia
- Officer: Ralph Elias
Film Crew:
- Screenplay: Steven Siegel
- Director of Photography: Dean Semler
- Producer: Lawrence Gordon
- Producer: Charles Gordon
- Screenplay: Scott Myers
- Casting: Judith Weiner
- Director: Rod Daniel
- Executive Producer: Donna Smith
- Editor: Lois Freeman-Fox
- Original Music Composer: Miles Goodman
- Location Assistant: Joe Johnston
- Stunts: Christopher B. Saunders
- Production Assistant: Wally Caddow
- Gaffer: Reinhart Peschke
- Music Editor: Nancy Fogarty
- Makeup Artist: Karoly Balazs
- Hairstylist: Jeanne Van Phue
- Stunts: Gary Combs
- Location Manager: Ward Emling
- Production Coordinator: Laura Hoffman
- Art Direction: Jay Burkhardt
- Sound Editor: Burness Dembrowski
- Sound Editor: Donald Flick
- Construction Foreman: Rance Barela
- Costume Supervisor: Leslie Weir
- Key Grip: William ‘Bear’ Paul
- Leadman: John Maskovich
- Property Master: Gregory R. Wolf
- Propmaker: William Guest
- Camera Operator: Don Devine
- Best Boy Electric: Frank Scheidbach
- Title Designer: Wayne Fitzgerald
- Production Controller: Gary Gillingham
- Script Supervisor: Kathryn Weygand
- First Assistant Director: Doug Metzger
- Supervising Sound Editor: Richard L. Anderson
- Dolly Grip: Levon Besnelian
- Still Photographer: Marsha Blackburn
- Art Department Manager: Don Maskovich
- Sound Editor: James Christopher
- Set Decoration: Maria Caso
- Foley Editor: Christopher Flick
- Construction Coordinator: Bill Luckey
- Sound Editor: Sherman Waze
- Sound Editor: George Simpson
- Boom Operator: Steve Sollars
- Production Design: George Costello
- Costume Design: Eileen Kennedy
- ADR Editor: Eileen Horta
- Production Coordinator: Robert H. Lemer
- Extras Casting: Tina Real
- Stunts: Cliff Fleming
- Stunts: Gary Davis
- Stunts: Blair Burrows
- Stunts: Henry Kingi
- Stunts: Ramiro González
- Stunts: Allen Woodman
- Stunts: Mic Rodgers
- Stunts: Allan Graf
- Stunts: Jeannie Epper
- Stunts: Jesse J. Donnelly
- Stunts: Doug Coleman
- Stunts: Ray Bickel
- Stunts: Bob Minor
- Stunts: Gene McLaughlin
- Stunts: Gary Epper
- Stunts: Steve Vandeman
- Stunts: Thomas Rosales Jr.
- Stunts: Wayne Montanio
- Stunts: Cliff McLaughlin
- Stunts: John Escobar
- Stunts: Justin De Rosa
- Stunts: Greg Brickman
- Stunts: Greg Wayne Elam
- Stunts: Bennie Moore
- Stunts: Michael Adams
- Stunts: James M. Halty
- Stunts: Glenn R. Wilder
- Stunts: Jimmy Ortega
- Stunts: Karl Lewis Miller
- Stunts: Scott Wilder
- Stunts: William H. Burton Sr.
- Stunts: Chris Howell
- Stunts: Richard L. Duran
- Stunts: Gilbert B. Combs
- Stunts: Janet Brady
- Casting Associate: Betsy Cohen
- Stunts: Gary Hymes
Movie Reviews:
- John Chard: 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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