Oh! Heavenly Dog

This is a movie that must have been conceived on a mirror covered with Tony Montana-esque mounds of cocaine. Somebody had to be snorting to team up Benji, the cinema's greatest dog star, with dog actor Chevy Chase. There's no way a sober executive would green-light a freakish plot that involves Chevy as a private investigator in London who gets killed in the first reel. Unfortunately the movie doesn't end there. While in Heaven, Chevy is given a chance to comeback to earth and find his murderer. Of course, there's a catch: he has to return as a dog. Roll up your $100 bill cause it's a long line to the bottom of this case.

The film's saving grace is that Chevy mostly performs as Benji's voiceover. When Chevy sporadically returns, you realize what a great thespian the dog was compared to his human counterpart. I might have laughed at Funny Farm if Benji took the lead. Jane Seymour is a crime novelist that helps Benji find the man who killed Chevy (presumably to give him an award), while Omar Sharif appears as the villain.

Who was the intended audience for this oddity? Were adults expected to sit through a Benji movie? Why would parents bring their kids to a movie where Benji says "shit"? The film made only $6 million, proving that the two superstars did not make for cross-over box office magic. Chevy's other summer of 1980 movie, Caddyshack, made nearly $40 million.

The only bonus feature on this disc is a bunch of trailers. Why couldn't Joe Camp at least do a director's commentary? Did he fear being sued by Chevy for telling all the good behind-the-scenes stories? The disc is flipper so you can experience it in either full frame or widescreen.

In the end, Oh! Heavenly Dog should only be viewed under the influence of the substances that were used to create it. -- Joe Corey