Dog (2022)

 

                Dogs have been used in war since ancient history.  The earliest mention was in a history of King Alyattes, King of Lydia, around 600 B.C. He used the war dogs against the invading Cimmerians.  There have been a few movies that told the stories of actual war dogs.  “Sergeant Stubby” is set in WWI,  “Chips, The War Dog” is WWII, and “Megan Leavey” in Iraq.  “Dog” is different because it is not based on a true story and it covers a post-war dog.  The film saw the directorial debuts of Channing Tatum and Reid Carolin.  The story was inspired by Tatum’s experience with his dying dog, Lulu.  They took a road trip and Tatum found it cathartic.  The movie was dedicated to Lulu.  Three dogs played the dog, also called Lulu.  In the movie, Lulu is a Belgian Malinos.  The pandemic shut the production down for 9 months.  This was actually beneficial as the cast was better able to bond with Britta, Lana 5, and Zuza.  The movie was a hit.  It cost $15 million and made $85 million.  This is a testament to the box office appeal of Channing Tatum.  And dogs.

                The scrapbook of a war dog and his handler (these are called “I Love Me” books) highlights the credits.  Jackson Briggs (Tatum) was a Ranger, but now he is working at Subway because of a brain injury.  Like many cinematic veterans, he’s having trouble adjusting to civilian life.  He desperately wants to return to the military.  His ex-commanding officer holds out that possibility if he does a job for him.  A comrade of Briggs, who was a dog handler in the Middle East,  has recently died and Briggs reluctantly agrees to transport the dog to his funeral.  Lulu has anger management problems, so the pair both have PTSD.  After the funeral, Briggs is to drop Lulu off at a base where she will be euthanized.  Briggs has no problem with this outcome.  At first.

  We’ve got ourselves a road trip movie, so clearly there will be bonding over a series of adventures.  For instance, Lulu runs into the woods and Briggs has an encounter with a militia-type.  Briggs uses Lulu to pretend he is blind to get a free hotel room.  Briggs visits his daughter, but his ex-wife doesn’t allow him to see her.  Lulu ruins Briggs chance of a threesome.  Lulu bites a Middle Eastern man, which gets Briggs arrested for a hate crime.  The truck breaks down and they hitchhike.  Will they make it to the funeral?  Will Lulu be put down?  Gue

Since this is a road trip movie, some of the plot is predictable.  It has the usual format of a series of vignettes.  There is an eclectic mix of songs that provides the soundtrack for their trek.  The PTSD plot does break new ground by involving a military dog, but Briggs is a stock character.  The movie relies on Tatum’s charm to compensate for it’s lack of originality.  Tatum carries the movie as he is the only recognizable actor in it, aside from a cameo by Bill Burr.  His co-stars, the dogs, are decent actors, but you will not be amazed at their acting.  They don’t get to show much range because the movie makes the questionable decision to not show Lulu in flashbacks.  There are vague references to her career.  However, we don’t know why she has PTSD.  Did she search for IED’s?  Did she patrol bases?  At least, she gets some therapy, unlike Briggs.  The movie does not serve as a tribute to war dogs, which would seemingly have been low-hanging fruit since it is aimed at dog-lovers.  We are left with a Channing Tatum movie.  Entertaining, but dog-eared.

GRADE  =  C