''Beethoven's 4th'' is a 2001 American

direct to video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

. It is the third sequel to the 1992

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

, ''

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...

'' and is the fourth installment in the ''Beethoven'' film series. It was released on December 4, 2001. It is the last film to feature

Judge Reinhold Edward Ernest "Judge" Reinhold Jr. (born May 21, 1957) is an American actor who has starred in several Hollywood movies, such as ''Ruthless People'', ''Fast Times at Ridgemont High'', ''Stripes'' and ''Gremlins'', and co-starred in all of the fil ...

as Richard Newton,

Julia Sweeney Julia Anne Sweeney (born October 10, 1959) is an American actress, comedian, and author, who gained fame as a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 1990 to 1994. She played Mrs. Keeper in the film ''Stuart Little'' and voiced Brittany in ' ...

as Beth Newton,

Joe Pichler Joseph David Wolfgang Pichler (February 14, 1987 – disappeared January 5, 2006) was/is an American former child actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in '' Varsity Blues'' (1999), '' Beethoven's 3rd'' (2000) and '' Beethoven's 4th'' ...

as Brennan Newton, and Michaela Gallo as Sara Newton.

Plot

Richard Newton checks in with his two children, Sara and Brennan, before school. The children love their St. Bernard dog,

, whom they are keeping for relatives, but their parents do not, and want to get rid of him. So the children begin taking the dog to Obedience Training led by a former army sergeant. Brennan falls in love with a girl named Hayley, while Beethoven literally destroys the

obstacle course An obstacle course is a series of challenging physical obstacles an individual, team or animal must navigate, usually while being timed. Obstacle courses can include running, climbing, jumping, crawling, swimming, and balancing elements with th ...

in one day. To top it all off, Beethoven hits the army sergeant in the groin with a leash causing him to kneel over in pain. Meanwhile, the rich Sedgewick family owns a pampered and well-behaved St. Bernard that looks exactly like Beethoven, named Michelangelo. Michelangelo and young Madison Sedgewick are friends, but her busy parents, Reginald and Martha, are always neglecting her. In fact, Reginald is the only one who seems to try to play with her. Beethoven, meanwhile, runs after a loose

hot dog cart A hot dog cart is a specialized mobile food stand for preparing and selling street food Street food is ready-to-eat food or drinks sold by a hawker, or vendor, in a street or at other public places, such as markets or fairs. It is often sold ...

, and ends up on a merry-go-round. Michelangelo has gotten loose, as well, and is now on the same

merry-go-round A carousel or carrousel (mainly North American English), merry-go-round (List of sovereign states, international), roundabout (British English), or hurdy-gurdy (an old term in Australian English, in South Australia, SA) is a type of amusement ...

. Brennan and Sara mistake him for Beethoven and take him home. The real Beethoven is mistaken for Michelangelo, and grabbed by Jonathan Simmons, the Sedgewick family's

butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...

and taken to their mansion. Sara is surprised when Michelangelo wipes his feet on the welcome mat and folds the napkins with his teeth at dinner. The Sedgewicks notice the change in "their dog" too, when he bolts Simmons to the ground to get a piece of

turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

. That night, Beethoven hears Madison whimpering because of a bad dream, and comforts her. At the next obedience class, Michelangelo leaves everyone in astonishment, by finishing the entire new obstacle course, while the sergeant is announcing the course. Meanwhile, Beethoven ruins a dinner party, when a man named Nigel tries to kidnap him. A

therapist Therapist is a person who offers any kinds of therapy. Therapists are trained professionals in the field of any types of services like psychologists, social workers, counsellors, life coachers and others. They are helpful in counselling individuals ...

points out to Martha that the reason "Michelangelo" is acting this way is because he is the first one exhibiting "symptoms". The therapist suggests that it may be because Martha does not care about anyone but herself. Richard is concerned about "Beethoven", and starts acting out to get "Beethoven" to misbehave again too. Richard drinks toilet water, chases the mailman, etc. Michelangelo ends up catching on, and starts behaving like Beethoven. The Sedgewick family start playing fetch and swimming with Beethoven. But as the Sedgewicks and Beethoven are

hiking Hiking is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century.AMATO, JOSEPH A. "Mind over Foot: Romantic Walking and Rambling." In ''On Foot: A Histor ...

, Nigel (who turns out to be Simmons' sidekick) kidnaps Beethoven and locks him in a

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the outskirts of cities ...

, for a ransom of $250,000. But Beethoven breaks out and secretly switches places with Michelangelo at the obedience graduation. The real Michelangelo is found by the Sedgewicks, and Simmons and Nigel are arrested by two FBI agents. The real Beethoven is found by the Newtons, and he graduates. The Sedgewicks and Newtons then meet up at a fork on the road, though, they never find out about the switching of Beethoven and Michelangelo.

Cast

as Richard Newton *

as Beth Newton *

as Brennan Newton * Michaela Gallo as Sara Newton * Kaleigh Krish as Madison Sedgewick * Matt McCoy as Reginald Sedgewick *

Veanne Cox Veanne Cox (born January 19, 1963) is an Emmy and Tony-nominated American stage and screen actress and former ballet dancer. Early life Cox was born in Norfolk, Virginia. She is a 1981 graduate of Manchester High School in Chesterfield, Virgin ...

as Martha Sedgewick *

Jeff Coopwood Jeff Coopwood (born June 29, 1958) is an American actor,
TV.com. CBS Interactive. 20`3. Retrieved November 13, ...

as Bill *

Dorien Wilson Dorien Leon Wilson (born July 5, 1963) is an American actor known for his role as Professor Stanley Oglevee on the UPN sitcom '' The Parkers'' (the spin-off series of ''Moesha'', which ran from 1999 to 2004), his recurring role as Terrence Winn ...

as Marlowe *

Mark Lindsay Chapman Mark Lindsay Chapman (born 8 September 1954) is an English actor. He is known for his roles as Chief Officer Henry Wilde in the film ''Titanic'' (1997), as John Lennon in the film '' Chapter 27'' (2007) and as Dr. Anton Arcane on the USA Net ...

as Jonathan "Johnnie" Simmons * Nick Meaney as Nigel Bigalow * Natalie Elizabeth Marston as Hayley *

Art LaFleur Art LaFleur (September 9, 1943 – November 17, 2021) was an American character actor and acting coach. Life and career LaFleur was born in Gary, Indiana. He played football in 1962 as a redshirt at the University of Kentucky under Coach Char ...

as Sergeant Rutledge * June Lu as Mrs. Florence Rutledge *

Patrick Bristow Patrick Bristow (born September 26, 1962) is an American actor, comedian and director. He is best known for playing Peter Barnes on ''Ellen'' (1994-1998), and Patrick on ''The Suite Life of Zack and Cody'' (2005-2008), and for the film ''Pain ...

as Guillermo *

Joyce Brothers Joyce Diane Brothers (October 20, 1927 – May 13, 2013) was an American psychologist, television personality, advice columnist, and writer. She first became famous in 1955 for winning the top prize on the American game show ''The $64,000 Quest ...

as Herself

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

the film has a score of 0% based on reviews from 8 critics.

References

External links

* {{The Prince and the Pauper 2001 films 2001 comedy films American comedy films 2000s English-language films Films about dogs Films about pets Universal Pictures direct-to-video films Direct-to-video sequel films Films directed by David M. Evans Films about animals Beethoven (franchise) 2000s American films