A trailer for "Dog" won a lot of fans online this week because it ended with the sentence "Don't worry, the dog doesn't die." So, for all the animal lovers out there who are still traumatized by "Marley & Me," fear not: you can enjoy the Channing Tatum road trip dog movie without agonizing over something happening to the titular character by the end of the film (spoiler alert?).
"Dog" marks Tatum's directorial debut, which he co-directed with Reid Carolin, who wrote the screenplay. Tatum stars as Briggs, an ex-Army Ranger who is tasked with driving to Arizona to take a fallen ranger's dog (named Lulu) to the funeral, per the family's wishes. Briggs has been working at a Subway-like restaurant, hoping to get a security position, which he may regret when he gets saddled with the notoriously aggressive ranger dog.
Briggs and Lulu hit the road and all sorts of road trip movie shenanigans ensue. If 90 minutes of Tatum bickering with a dog sounds like something you would like, there's no question you should run to a theater and see "Dog." There's an inherent pleasantness to the film, but it doesn't ever make any strides to rise above just another road trip adventure.
The screenplay attempts to deepen Briggs' character by introducing Q'orianka Kilcher's (who made a name for herself with Terrence Malick's 2005 film "The New World) character, but never giving her anything to say (she appears on screen for less than minute). It's a confounding and distracting throwaway scene, which feels like two subsequent scenes after it were lost in an edit. It's unclear why something like this was kept, in an effort to expand a character, but not actually used to any effect.
"Dog" marks a return of sorts for Tatum, who rose steadily in his movie stardom then seemingly peaked in 2014 with comedic sequel "22 Jump Street" and a strong dramatic turn in "Foxcatcher." Since then, his roles have leaned more towards supporting and voiceover work, but 2022 is poised to be a comeback year for the actor (he also co-stars with Sandra Bullock in "The Lost City" next month). His performance here isn't anything we haven't seen him do before. He's able to deliver one-liners with ease (the "Jump Street" films proved his comedic prowess) and that's what he's called upon to do opposite Lulu.
Most of "Dog" feels surface-level but Tatum and Lulu find ways to spark an odd couple rapport, which keeps this lighthearted movie engaging. It just could have been a stronger movie if it had gone a little deeper.
Dog Movie Review By Matthew Passantino
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