Dog (2022)

March 30, 2022 9:47 PM

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.

Directed by Channing Tatum and Reid Caroline.
Written by Reid Carolin; Brett Rodriguez
Lead roles acted by Channing Tatum and 3 Belgian Shepherds called Britta, Lana 5, and Zuza who all depict the dog Lulu in the film.

posted by Zumbador (4 comments total)

I'm not sure what it think of this film. I suspect that the fact that I'm not an American means I have a very different experience watching it.
At first it seems like a typical macho swaggering USA movie, with the story of a Army Ranger called Briggs who is caught up in the romance of the brotherhood of war.
Desperate to return to active duty. Every encounter with civilians seen through the lense of his experience.
Women are almost all potential sex partners who have baffling and uninformed opinions.
Gradually it becomes clear just how warped Briggs perception of reality is. Both he and his dog companion, Lulu, have been brutalised by the US war machine, and both of them are being discarded like trash.
I felt like this movie was made for a very different kind of person than I am. One who would genuinely sympathise with the comedy of Briggs trying to get laid and constantly getting interrupted by the dog's misbehaviour.
An audience who identifies more with super straight, white male, Briggs, than with the civilians he encounters (a number of flaky hippies, earnest lefties, etc).
And it's also straight up sentimental at times, (the dog's behaviour at the funeral).
But there was enough there to keep me watching. Even without the amazing, beautiful, impressive dog!
The gradual revelation of just how traumatised Briggs is, the fact that he's driven by a death wish, the way the brutality of the of war is shown, not through the violence of war itself, but in Briggs's behaviour as he tries to adapt to civilian life, and the symptoms of brain injury and addiction.
Also, the dog is awesome.
posted by Zumbador at 10:12 PM on March 30, 2022

I enjoyed it.^*

It does what it sets out to do, be a sentimental movie with an easily wrapped up redemption arc.
Tatum did a good job. In several parts, he managed to convey the confusion of a man who doesn't understand why people don't see him anymore the way he still sees himself.

Is it a little hokey in parts? Sure.
Does it oftentimes resemble a California tourism promo film? Sure.

But you know what you are getting when you watch this time of movie and I think it delivers competently.

^*As long as I ignore the totally nonsensical route taken from Washington to Arizona. You're in a hurry but somehow end up in Big Sur?
posted by madajb at 12:11 AM on April 1, 2022

watching the trailer set up a very different movie than the actual movie. from the trailer "dog" is basically a comedy.
posted by alchemist at 12:59 AM on April 2, 2022

We streamed this last night and it was a bit better than I figured it would be. You know where it's going, the beats are familiar, and yet, it works. Yeah, the ending is a bit too neat, though they cover significant ground in that little montage. A very good performance by Tatum and the three dogs.
posted by Ber at 8:04 AM on June 4, 2022