Beethoven's 4th
Married couple Judge Reinhold and Julia Sweeney host the unkempt Saint Bernard in this fourth go-round of the canine comedy franchise. The pair and their two children are dog-sitting in their pleasant suburban home--made predictably less pleasant by their toilet-water-slurping, steak-stealing guest. Meanwhile, across town, a rich couple and their lonely daughter have their own problems when their identical-looking Saint Bernard, Michelangelo, is kidnapped by their double-crossing butler.Of course, the switch is inevitable in thisPrince and the Pauperwith dogs, landing the meat-crazed Beethoven in the vegetarian dog's silk-sheeted bed and vice versa. Many drool jokes later, the dogs return to their rightful homes, the rich couple learns to cavort, and Reinhold and Sweeney learn to love Beethoven's uncouthness. You expected a different ending? This 90-minute sequel provides inoffensive and mildly amusing entertainment for ages 4 to about 12.--Kimberly Heinrichs