Zeus and Roxanne
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| File:Zeus and roxanne poster.jpg
Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | George T. Miller |
| Produced by | Laura Friedman Hilton A. Green |
| Written by | Tom Benedek |
| Starring | Steve Guttenberg Kathleen Quinlan Miko Hughes Arnold Vosloo |
| Music by | Bruce Rowland |
| Cinematography | David Connell |
| Edited by | Harry Hitner |
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Production
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| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
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Release dates
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Running time
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98 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $7.2 million |
Zeus and Roxanne is a 1997 family comedy/adventure film directed by George T. Miller. The film revolves around the friendship between the title characters, a dog and a dolphin, respectively. The film stars Steve Guttenberg and Kathleen Quinlan.
Plot
One morning, Zeus, a dog, goes to the pier, spots a dolphin, and becomes fascinated by its movements. Afterwards, he returns home to his owner Terry Barnett, an aspiring musician, and Terry's son Jordan, who appears to be taking care of his inept father. Later that morning, Zeus chases a cat and subsequently destroys the outdoor garden of Mary Beth Dunhill, a marine biologist and the Barnetts' next-door neighbor. Terry calms Zeus down and apologizes to Mary Beth, although she is agitated by him.
Mary Beth later goes to her workplace and is followed by Zeus, who notices her photo of the same dolphin from earlier. Upon arriving, she is met by her research partner Becky and her rival Claude Carver. Mary Beth and Becky travel out to the ocean on a boat to follow the dolphin they are researching, whom they name Roxanne, and Zeus stows away on the boat. However, while in the middle of the ocean, Zeus slips off the boat. Roxanne saves his life from a shark and gives him a ride back to the boat on her back, which surprises and fascinates Mary Beth and Becky, who find that Zeus and Roxanne can do "inter-species communication". While stopping over on the way home with Zeus, Mary Beth spots her two impossible daughters, Judith and Nora, skating against her wishes. Arriving home, Mary Beth asks Jordan if she could borrow Zeus for her research on Roxanne, a former research dolphin who she hopes to reintroduce back into the wild. Jordan agrees, and he and Terry accompany Mary Beth on her research.
During the following days, Terry begins to fall in love with Mary Beth as he manages to find inspiration for his music, while Jordan bonds with Judith and Nora. After Terry saves Judith and Nora while they are skating in a factory, Mary Beth asks him out on a date. After spending the night at a local beach-side resort, the two awkwardly kiss. Meanwhile, Claude, wanting research grant money to come to his research and not Mary Beth's, tries to steal her research, but winds up getting comically thwarted by Zeus. Then, he tries gaining the lead in her inter-species communication study, although his attempts to have one of his research dolphins bond with another animal fail one after another.
Through the conniving of Jordan, Judith, and Nora, Terry decides to move into Mary Beth's house with Jordan and Zeus, but after seeing a photo of his late wife, he decides to pursue his original plan of traveling to another town to continue writing his music. This causes both Zeus and Roxanne distress. While staying at a hotel with his owners, Zeus runs away back to Mary Beth's research center. Noticing Zeus's disappearance and realizing where he was going, Terry and Jordan return to town, while Mary Beth uses a submersible to go down and investigate the seabed after Claude claims Roxanne was caught in an illegal fishing net and killed. Zeus returns to the research center, where he is captured by Claude, who intends to use him as bait to lure out Roxanne, who is in fact alive, and capture her. However, Zeus and Roxanne work together to trap him and his assistant in a net, where they are arrested by police.
While exploring the seabed, Mary Beth's submersible is tangled in the fishing nets, and water begins flooding the interior. Roxanne leads Terry to Mary Beth, and he manages to free her from the trapped submersible. Afterwards, Jordan, Judith, and Nora convince Terry to marry Mary Beth. During the wedding ceremony, Mary Beth is given a grant for her research on Zeus and Roxanne. Immediately afterwards, a pod of dolphins appears, and Zeus convinces Roxanne to join them. Zeus watches happily with Terry, Mary Beth, Jordan, Judith, and Nora as Roxanne leaps into the air with the other dolphins.
Cast
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- Steve Guttenberg .... Terry Barnett
- Kathleen Quinlan .... Mary Beth Dunhill
- Arnold Vosloo .... Claude Carver
- Dawn McMillan .... Becky
- Miko Hughes .... Jordan Barnett
- Majandra Delfino .... Judith Dunhill
- Jessica Howell .... Nora Dunhill
- Tacquira LaTouche .... Judith's Friend
- Duchess Tomasello .... Mrs. Rice
- Shannon K. Foley .... Linda
- Jim R. Coleman .... Phil
- Alvin Farmer .... Floyd
- Harri James .... Airline Attendant
- Justin Humphrey .... Craig
- James Stone .... Security Guard
- Maury Covington .... Reverend
- Michael A. Xynidis .... Messenger
- Nathan R. Fitzgerald .... Conga Line Dancer
- Benjamin Pettijohn .... Additional "Zeus" Vocals
- David Nathaniel Hoyte .... Lead Steel Pan Performer
- Dennis Thomas .... Musician #1
- Simeon Rolle .... Musician #2
- Vince Strachan .... Musician #3
- Michael Hoyte .... Musician #4
- Al Guther .... Helicopter Pilot
Reception
Critical reception to the movie was mixed.[1][2] According to Rotten Tomatoes, 50% of critics gave the film a positive review (out of seven reviews) with an average rating of 4.4/10.[3]
Box office
The movie debuted at No. 10.[4]
