Beethoven

As many a frustrated moviegoer will attest, most contemporary trailers endeavor to sell films with little regard to their actual content; creative editing makes heavy drama look like eroticism, satire seem to be slasher horror and absolutely anything appears to be an action adventure. In a refreshing departure from this maddening marketing strategy, the advance promo for BEETHOVEN promised audiences a predictable, dumb, family dog comedy--and that's exactly what this is.

The title character begins as a nameless St. Bernard pup in a pet store. A pair of comical burglars (whose resemblance to HOME ALONE's Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern will gain significance la...