Dog

 

DIRECTED BY-:
Reid Carolin
Channing Tatum
STARRING-:
Channing Tatum
Ethan Suplee
Bill Burr
YEAR OF RELEASE-:
2022
PREMISE-:
Two former Army Rangers are paired against their will on the road trip of a lifetime. Briggs (Channing Tatum) and Lulu (a Belgian Malinois) race down the Pacific Coast to get to a fellow soldier's funeral on time.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS.

THE NEGATIVES-:

• In Portland, an animal rights activist ACCIDENTALLY happened to walk by Jackson’s parked car JUST BEFORE he was about to have a threesome. 

• Jackson and Lulu ACCIDENTALLY stumble onto Gus and Tamara’s weed farm. 

• At the Grand Regal hotel, Lulu ACCIDENTALLY spots a man wearing traditional islamic clothes. 

• At Noah’s house, the contents of Jackson’s car COINCIDENTALLY get stolen by a homeless veteran. 

• Jackson’s car ACCIDENTALLY breaks down in an area with no network service.

• The area in which Jackson’s car breaks down CONVENIENTLY happened to be in close proximity to an abandoned warehouse with a functioning DVD player. 

• Jackson CONVENIENTLY experiences seizures just the day before Lulu is to be put down. 

THE POSITIVES-:

• Changing Tatum gave a pretty good performance and was able to balance the comedic and dramatic sides of his character excellently. 

• The character development of Jackson Briggs was well written and executed. While majority of the film’s time is spent exclusively on developing a bond between Jackson and Lulu, his meeting with Noah plays a very essential role in making Jackson realize that obstinately “staying in the game” for glory with little to no regard for personal health can have extremely devastating consequences. The gun club scene where he struggles to shoot his targets and the scene where he experiences seizures for the first time were also effective in establishing his arc.

• I really liked the parallels between Jackson and Lulu (something that Jackson himself acknowledges) — they’re both suffering from mental issues due to their brutal and grueling experiences in the war. The only difference between them lies in how much agency they have and what they are choosing to do with it. While one of them is about to be put down and has no say in the matter, the other one wishes to go down a path where he unwittingly would be the cause of his own death, as he refuses to acknowledge his dilapidating health and is hellbent on going back on the battlefield. So, when Jackson finally prevents Lulu being put down in the end, he essentially saves himself from dying. By the end, both the characters not only save each other’s lives but also end up having a positive impact on each other. Lulu gets a warm and loving environment where she isn’t neglected or ostracized for her aggressive nature, and Jackson finally has time to heal mentally and emotionally which allows him to reconcile with his estranged family. And while I would’ve liked the film more if this journey was handled in a more subtle manner, it still worked pretty well and was effective at being emotionally impactful.

• Moving on to things that WERE handled in a subtle manner, I really liked that Jackson’s expired ID served both a literal narrative sense ( it allowed Jackson to go in and out of the military base) but also had a symbolic / metaphorical significance — it was reflective of how Jackson is still refusing to let go of his “days of glory” in the ranger battalion. So naturally, I really appreciated that Jackson decides to leave his expired ID behind only when he has gone through a character arc which developed his character on the metaphorical side of things.

• Although the film is marketed as a comedy, I don’t recall myself laughing out loud at any of the jokes, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing because the film is clearly much more of a drama than a comedy. Despite that, the film did manage to get a few chuckles out of me, especially during Lulu’s antics with Jackson (which are highly elevated by the chemistry and rapport that Channing Tatum and the dog have) and with the utilization of the “thank you for your service” gag with a surprise cameo from Bill Burr.

RATING -: 6/10