Dog Movie Review: Channing Tatum’s Four Pawed Companion Cannot Save This Film From It’s Lazy Writing

Available
In
Theatres

Duration:
100
Minutes

Language:
English

Triggers:
War,
Death

Plot:
Dog
follows
Briggs,
a
US
Ranger
suffering
from
PTSD
apart
from
several
injuries
after
his
outpost.
In
an
attempt
to
get
back
out,
Briggs
is
assigned
a
job
on
the
down
low
to
transport
a
military
trained
dog
Lulu
who
has
trouble
interacting
with
people,
to
her
handler’s
funeral.

Review:
Dog
marks
Channing
Tatum
and
Reid
Carolin’s
directorial
debut
exploring
the
aftermath
of
war
on
men
and
pawed
companions.
With
a
shorter
run
time
of
100
minutes,
the
film
sticks
to
its
premise
closely
as
Lulu
continues
to
grow
on
the
audience’s
minds.

Dog
begins
with
Channing
Tatum’s
US
Ranger
Briggs
waking
up
while
having
a
seizure.
He
falls
off
his
bed
unable
to
move
until
the
seizure
passes,
once
it
does
he
goes
back
to
his
daily
routine
like
nothing
happened.
Off-field,
he
has
been
working
at
a
local
fast
food
store
to
get
by
after
his
brain
surgery.
Despite
being
cleared
by
his
doctor
for
work,
he
is
being
kept
off-field
but
Briggs
is
not
ready
to
give
up.

Doctor
Strange
2
Mid
And
Post-Credit
Scenes
Leaked:
Clips
Reveal
New
Characters
And
Future
Of
MCU

When
he
arrives
at
the
funeral
of
his
fellow
Ranger,
he
continues
to
hope
that
someone
will
make
a
call
to
get
him
back
in.
The
opportunity
presents
in
the
way
of
his
dead
Ranger
friend’s
dog
–
Lulu.
The
dog
is
known
to
be
difficult
to
work
with
and
is
unable
to
connect
with
humans,
now
that
her
handler
has
passed
away.
She
is
always
muzzled-up
and
kept
indoors
as
she
is
known
to
bite
anyone
who
comes
close
to
her.

Riggs
is
asked
to
take
her
to
her
handler’s
funeral,
which
will
take
a
five-day
drive,
post
which,
she
will
be
put
down.
Riggs
and
Lulu
struggle
at
the
beginning
of
the
trip
but
begin
to
develop
a
bond
as
they
spend
more
time
with
each
other.

The
makers
stick
to
the
most
basic
logline
of
the
story
giving
the
film
a
simple
90s
family
drama
vibe,
but
it
is
the
premise
that
works
against
it
most
of
the
time.
The
film
explores
PTSD
among
military
personnel
which
makes
it
a
perfect
release,
as
people
need
a
reminder
of
how
bad
war
could
be,
but
the
fact
that
it
follows
a
US
personnel
made
it
worse
for
me
in
some
ways.

However,
Lulu’s
presence
does
overpower
some
of
the
bad
premises
except
the
writing.
Tatum
and
Reid
continue
to
struggle
between
approaching
the
film
as
a
family
drama-
road
trip
and
an
early
2000’s
raunchy
comedy
films.
The
latter
is
Tatum’s
domain
and
he
continues
to
give
the
audience
what
he
is
known
for
(cue:
Magic
Mike).
The
actor
manages
to
surprise
with
a
few
adorable
scenes
with
Lulu,
showing
his
compassion
as
a
dog
owner.

Alia
Bhatt
Set
To
Make
Her
Global
Debut
With
Gal
Gadot’s
Netflix
Film
Heart
of
Stone

The
screenplay
skips
many
emotional
stages
of
their
journey
together
and
trades
it
for
scenes
that
put
Tatum
forward
as
the
sensitive
and
emotionally
damaged
male
lead.
Lulu,
who
the
film
is
supposed
to
follow,
unfortunately,
ends
up
on
the
sidelines,
becoming
the
sacrificial
pawn
for
Briggs’ emotional
arc.

Overall,

Dog
may
pull
you
in
with
Lulu’s
desperate
eyes
but
it
is
not
enough
to
save
the
lazy
writing.
There
are
plenty
of
other
films
centred
around
pawed
companions
that
actually
do
them
justice.