''Beethoven's 4th'' is a 2001 American direct to video

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

. It is the third sequel to the 1992

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

'' and 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 is best known for his work in Hollywood films during the 1980s. He has starred in several popular films such as '' Stripes'' (1981), '' Fast Times at Ridgemont High' ...

as Richard Newton, Julia Sweeney as Beth Newton, Joe Pichler as Brennan Newton, and Michaela Gallo as Sara Newton.

Plot

Richard Newton checks in with his two children, Sara and Brennan, before school. Richard and his family are still watching Beethoven while Richard's brother George and his family are still out of town for business. The children love their St. Bernard dog, Beethoven, whom they are keeping for relatives, but their parents do not, and want to get rid of him. 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 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, and ends up on a merry-go-round. Michelangelo has gotten loose, as well, and is now on the same merry-go-round. 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 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, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. 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 dognap him. A therapist 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 A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

, 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 rural–urban fringe, out ...

, for a ransom of $250,000. 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

* Cujo as Beethoven *

as Richard Newton * Julia Sweeney as Beth Newton, Richard's wife * Joe Pichler as Brennan Newton, Richard & Beth's son * Michaela Gallo as Sara Newton, Richard & Beth's daughter * Kaleigh Krish as Madison Sedgewick, the daughter of Reginald & Martha * Matt McCoy as Reginald Sedgewick, Madison's father * Veanne Cox as Martha Sedgewick, Madison's mother * Jeff Coopwood as Bill * Dorien Wilson as Marlowe * Mark Lindsay Chapman as Jonathan "Johnnie" Simmons * Nick Meaney as Nigel Bigalow * Natalie Elizabeth Marston as Hayley * Art LaFleur as Sergeant Rutledge * June Lu as Mrs. Florence Rutledge * Patrick Bristow as Guillermo * Joyce Brothers as herself

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, 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 ...

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

References

External links

* {{The Prince and the Pauper 2001 films 2001 children's films 2001 comedy films 2001 direct-to-video films 2000s American films 2000s children's comedy films 2000s English-language films American children's comedy films American sequel films Beethoven (franchise) Direct-to-video comedy films Direct-to-video sequel films English-language comedy films Films about pets Films based on The Prince and the Pauper Films directed by David Mickey Evans Universal Pictures direct-to-video films