''Bingo'' is a 1991

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

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 ...

directed by Matthew Robbins and released by TriStar Pictures. Bingo, a runaway

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...

saves the life of Chuckie ( Robert J. Steinmiller Jr.), a young boy who is somewhat an outcast within his family. The two quickly become best friends —

skateboarding Skateboarding is an extreme sport, action sport originating in the United States that involves riding and performing tricks using a skateboard, as well as a recreational activity, an art form, an entertainment industry Profession, job, and a ...

, playing pinball, and doing math homework together. But Chuckie's parents discover the stowaway pooch and make it clear that Bingo will not accompany them on their cross-country move.

Plot

Bingo is an outcast circus dog whose owners, Steve ( Simon Webb) and his wife, Ginger (

Suzie Plakson Suzie Plakson is an American actress. Early life and education Born Susan Plaksin in Buffalo, New York, she was raised in Kingston, Pennsylvania and attended Northwestern University. Career Plakson began her career on the stage, and playe ...

), pay little attention to. Their star puppy, Lauren, develops an infection from having stepped on a nail, so they use Bingo in place of her for their next act, The Ring of Fire. Bingo is afraid of fire, having lost his mother to a fire as a puppy, and chickens out. Enraged by the embarrassment, Steve gets ready to shoot him, but Ginger stops him and while trying to restrain him, tells Bingo to start over and find a family. Bingo does so when Ginger finally agrees with Steve to kill him when Bingo mistakes her orders several times. The next day, 12-year-old Chuckie ( Robert J. Steinmiller Jr.) and his 14-year-old brother, Chickie (David French) along with friends of his go for a bike ride but Chuckie is too slow. To prove to the group that he is not scared, he attempts to jump a bridge (with sunglasses), but based on lack of skills, nearly kills himself in the process. Bingo sees the whole thing and jumps on Chuckie's stomach to get the water out of him. After recovering and going to bed, Chuckie wakes up to find that his dirty clothes have been hung up on the washing line (including Bingo's collar). He eventually finds Bingo and thanks him for saving his life, and they will be friends for life. Bingo finds a fish for Chuckie to eat but encounters a bear in the process, which Bingo manages to drive off. Meanwhile, Chuckie's parents Natalie and Hal ( Cindy Williams and David Rasche), the latter being the

place kicker Placekicker, or simply kicker (PK or K), is the player in gridiron football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals and extra points. In many cases, the placekicker also serves as the team's kickoff specialist or punter. Speci ...

for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquart ...

, worry over their son. But the next morning, when Chuckie returns, they do not want to know where he was, instead telling him to take a shower as he smells like "wet dog". Chuckie has to leave for school. After that, both the boy and dog spend more time together (skateboarding, reading magazines, playing video games, and doing math homework). Feeling ignored and even emotionally hurt by his parents and older brother, who seems to care more about his father's NFL career, he considers Bingo to be a godsend, but Bingo causes trouble as well (getting into Natalie's cold cream, chewing Chickie's citizenship award, and soiling the driveway in which Hal had slipped). Chuckie returns home and his best friend is largely blamed for the incidents. Hal tells him to go upstairs and start packing as he has been traded to another team, the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

. Chuckie makes a death-proof box for Bingo to sleep in so he can take him with him. Bingo sneaks out in the middle of the night and goes to see the next-door's dog, whom he met earlier, with flowers and a bottle of champagne. The next morning, he misses Chuckie's car as it drives off on the journey to their new home. Chasing the car, Chuckie's parents spot him, and they drive away. Bingo then gets into an encounter with a policeman, who believes he has been drinking and fines him. After escaping, Bingo passes out from dehydration and is taken in by a man, who actually kills dogs and cooks them. Bingo advises the rest of the captured dogs to dig under the cells and then attack him. Then he drives a truck (with the man and his wife in a cell) and jumps out as they crash. As Chuckie and his family are staying at a motel, Bingo is around somewhere sniffing garbage. There, he is taken in by two criminals, Lenny and Eli (

Kurt Fuller Kurt Fuller (born September 16, 1953) is an American character actor. He has appeared in a number of television, film, and stage projects. He is best known for his roles in the films ''No Holds Barred'' and ''Ghostbusters II'' (both 1989), ''Way ...

and Joe Guzaldo). He sees that they have taken a family hostage. Bingo realizes they could be killed, so he telephones 911 and frees the family. The next day, the authorities arrive to arrest the kidnappers. In gratitude, the family takes him in and the girls argue over what to call their new pet until a man comes in to take Bingo to court. After an unfair trial, Bingo is jailed for contempt of court. Bingo ends up in a cell with a man known as "Four-Eyes" ( Wayne Robson), who befriends him and saves him from a knife incident (involving Lenny and Eli) in the laundry room. That night, they escape together, but Four-Eyes is not so lucky (he is shot non-fatally by a nightwatchman). Then Bingo walks for a long time and stops for a rest at a kind young woman (Tamsin Kelsey), Bunny's house. She gives him some travel supplies and he walks again. He then finds Chuckie but sees that he is walking another dog, so he mistakenly thinks he does not care about him anymore. Homeless and alone, he finds work in a friendly cook's restaurant. Lenny and Eli are informed of Bingo's escape and set out to kill him, but when they have him cornered, Chuckie spots them and races his bike toward the criminals, only to get held at ransom. After an altercation over the phone with Natalie, Eli tells her they have Chuckie and that they want Hal to miss all his field goals for that day's game. Natalie and Chickie repeatedly answer the door to Bingo, who holds a number of Chuckie's clothes. When he brings home enough of them to confirm evidence, Natalie suddenly becomes worried, and Chickie agrees to go out and try and spot where Chuckie is held hostage, in which he succeeds. Natalie phones Hal at the stadium and tells him about how Lenny and Eli have Chuckie and are holding him captive. When said that they will pay any amount, Natalie informs him that it is not like that and that Hal needs to miss all his field goals or risk Chuckie being killed. After the phone call, Hal asks if he could have a word with his coach (Howard Storey); he asks him "What's more important, family or football?" to which the coach responds that football is his life. Chickie runs into the room and tells Natalie that he has found Chuckie and that they have no choice but to call the police. Meanwhile, Eli and Lenny are attacked by Bingo, and is captured and tied up with Chuckie. Carelessly, Eli tosses his cigarette, setting the lair on fire just as they break for the car. Chuckie, seemingly dying of the heat and smoke inhalation, tells Bingo to ring the fire alarm. Bingo does so, overcoming his fear of fire. The police move in and listen to the game on the radio. Then they arrest Lenny and Eli and nurse Chuckie's injuries. They call the bomb squad to find a bomb that was hidden in one of the suitcases. After finding out that Chuckie is safe, Hal scores a last-minute, crucial field goal, but at the same time Bingo is holding the suitcase containing the bomb and it explodes. Natalie screams and faints, and so does Chuckie. The fireman then makes a call and finds a piece of fur in mid-air. When Chuckie wakes up, he is in the hospital with Natalie, Hal and Chickie. Hal tells him they found Bingo so they go to see him in his room. Once they enter his room, they find a crowd of people (including the dogs that were tortured). They are all the people whom Bingo met on his journey, and Natalie tells Chuckie that they are Bingo's friends and they have been at the hospital all night, since they all heard his story on the news and wanted to wish him well. Chuckie pulls the curtain to reveal Bingo with a bandaged leg, and lying down in bed. Chuckie tells him he needs him and he must pull through, and the doctor muses that he will be fine. Then Chuckie asks Hal if he can keep Bingo, and after some encouragement from everybody, he gives in and says "Sure, son. Just as soon as we have him neutered." The film ends with a circle around Bingo's head giving an upset look as the credits roll.

Cast

*Lacey as Bingo * Cindy Williams as Natalie Devlin * David Rasche as Hal Devlin * Robert J. Steinmiller Jr. as Chuckie Devlin *David French as Chickie Devlin *

as Lenny, a thug. *Joe Guzaldo as Eli, a thug. *

Robert Thurston Robert Thurston (28 October 1936 – 20 October 2021) was a science fiction author well known for his works in popular shared world settings. Career Thurston attended the Clarion Workshop at Clarion State College, Pennsylvania in 1968, instru ...

as Mr. Thompson *Sheelah Megill as Mrs. Thompson * Chelan Simmons as Cindy Thompson *Kimberley Warnat as Sandy Thompson *

Glenn Shadix William Glenn Shadix (April 15, 1952 – September 7, 2010) was an American actor and comedian. He was known for his role as Otho in Tim Burton's horror comedy film ''Beetlejuice'' and as the voice of the Mayor of Halloween Town in ''The Nightmare ...

as Duke, a restaurant owner and butcher who uses dogs to make franks. *

Janet Wright Janet Wright (March 8, 1945 – November 14, 2016) was an English-born Canadian actress and theatre director. She was best known for her role as Emma Leroy on the Canadian sitcom, ''Corner Gas''. She performed in many film and television shows, a ...

as Emma Lois, the wife of Duke who is a waitress of his restaurant. * Wayne Robson as Four Eyes, a prisoner who cellmates Bingo. *

as Ginger, a Circus performer and wife of Steve who along with him is the first owners of Bingo. *Simon Webb as Steve, a Circus performer who is the first owner of Bingo. *Tamsin Kelsey as Bunny, a prostitute who helps Bingo out. *Betty Linde as Mrs. Wallaby, an elderly neighbor of the Devlins in Green Bay. *James Kidnie as Defense Attorney *Norman Browning as Prosecutor *Blu Mankuma as Motorcycle Cop * Jackson Davies as Vet *

Antony Holland Antony Holland (28 March 1920 – 29 July 2015) was an English actor, playwright and theatre director who until his death in 2015 lived on Gabriola Island, British Columbia, Canada. History Holland completed his drama training at the Labou ...

as Circus vet *Bill Meilen as Vic, a restaurant owner and its head cook. *Stephen E. Miller as Sheriff Clay *Drum Garrett as Dishwasher *Howard Storey as Coach *Denalda Williams as Doctor's assistant *

Gloria Macarenko Gloria Macarenko, is a Canadian television and radio journalist. From 1989 until 2014, she was the longtime host or co-host of CBC Vancouver's supper-hour television newscast at 5:00 or 6:00. She later hosted the CBC Radio One local program '' B ...

as Reporter *Sylvia Mitchell as Court reporter *

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

as Special vocal effects

Reception

The Washington Times ''The Washington Times'' is an American conservative daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., that covers general interest topics with a particular emphasis on national politics. Its broadsheet daily edition is distributed throughout ...

'' gave ''Bingo'' a half-star out of four, and deemed it "The ''Problem Child'' of pet pooch movies."

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bingo (Film) 1991 films 1991 comedy-drama films 1990s children's comedy films American fantasy comedy films American children's comedy films American children's films American prison comedy films American road movies 1990s English-language films Denver Broncos Films about dogs Films about hostage takings Films about pets TriStar Pictures films Films directed by Matthew Robbins Films scored by Richard Gibbs 1990s American films

Plot

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links