Bingo (1991 film)

1991 American family comedy film directed by Matthew Robbins

Bingo is a 1991 American family comedy film directed by Matthew Robbins from a script by Jim Strain. The film follows Bingo, a clever runaway circus dog who goes on a cross country search to find Chuckie (Robert J. Steinmiller Jr.), a boy he befriended. Along the way, Bingo gets into various adventures with colorful characters. Bingo was portrayed by Lace, a female border collie adopted from a shelter. Principal photography began on September 12, 1990.

On the outskirts of Denver, Colorado, Bingo the Border Collie performs routine chores for a circus. When one of the star poodles injures its foot, Bingo is asked to stand in for that night’s performance. However, Bingo’s fear of fire leads him to chicken out of jumping through a hoop of fire. Bingo’s fear stems from having lost his mother to a fire as a puppy. Bingo, berated by the circus master for his failure, leaves in search of a better life. 12 year old Chuckie Devlin is attempting to show off his bike skills to friends by jumping it across a river. Instead, he falls into the river and wrecks his bike. Bingo sees the unconscious boy and rescues him. The dog and the boy quickly bond, and Chuckie takes him home where he lives with his older brother Chickie, mother Natalie, and father Hal, a placekicker for the Denver Broncos. Chuckie hides Bingo away in a cabinet as his family does not want a pet. Bingo is eventually found out when Chuckie goes to school and the family finds evidence of the dog’s mischief. They angrily confront the boy when he comes home, but this becomes forgotten when Hal suddenly learns he has been traded to the Green Bay Packers. The following morning, the family departs for Wisconsin, leaving Bingo behind. However, Chuckie comes up with a plan to be reunited with Bingo: leaving a scent trail for Bingo to follow by urinating at road stops. Bingo follows along the "trail" and gets roped into multiple misadventures—including banding together with other dogs to destroy a hot dog stand that uses the meat of impounded mutts, and helping to catch Lennie and Eli, two criminals who have hijacked a camper and taken a family as hostages. When he is wrongfully accused of a crime he didn't commit, Bingo is thrown in jail, but later escapes. Bingo finally makes it to Green Bay, but sees Chuckie walking another dog. Bingo, not realizing that it is a neighbor’s dog, wanders off, dejected at having been replaced. He eventually gets a job licking the plates clean at a nearby diner. Lennie and Eli escape prison and track down the dog to Green Bay. They post reward flyers for Bingo, and one of the diner employees responds, alerting them to the dog's whereabouts. Chuckie happens to see a flyer too, and the boy, the dog, and the two criminals converge in an alley behind the diner. When Lennie and Eli discover Chuckie is the son of a professional football player, they hold the boy captive in a warehouse. Knowing they can successfully gamble on a rigged outcome, they call Chuckie’s mother and say they will only give up the boy if Hal misses all his field goals during the day’s game. Bingo is able to get away and warn Natalie and Chickie, before returning to rescue Chuckie. The dog is overpowered by Lennie and Eli, who tie him up next to Chuckie and reveal a bomb with which they intend to destroy the warehouse. As the goons leave, they toss a cigar, leading to the warehouse catching fire. Bingo breaks free of his restraints, but his fear prevents him from leaping through to get to the fire alarm. When Chuckie begins to collapse from heat and smoke inhalation, Bingo overcomes his fear and triggers the alarm. Firemen arrive and rescue Chuckie while police surround Lennie and Eli’s car. The criminals threaten to trigger the bomb unless Hal misses the game deciding field goal, but the police call the criminals’ bluff. Back at the warehouse, Bingo carries the bomb away from the site. Hal makes the field goal, and Chuckie watches, horrified, as the bomb explodes in the distance. Later, the boy awakens in a hospital, and his family takes him to a room down the hall where Bingo is recuperating. The room is filled with all the people and dogs that Bingo has encountered along his journey. Chuckie and Bingo celebrate their reunion, and the former asks his dad if he can keep the dog. After some encouragement, Hal gives in and says, "Sure, son. Just as soon as we have him neutered", prompting a nervous look from Bingo.

Merchandise from TriStar included trading cards, and a tie in novelization by B. B. Hiller from Scholastic Paperbacks.