Dog – Movie Review (Audio starts at ~17:44)
101 Minutes, Rated PG-13
Written by Reid Carolin
Directed by Reid Carolin & Channing Tatum
Synopsis:
Two former Army Rangers are paired against their will on the road trip of a lifetime. Briggs and Lulu race down the Pacific Coast to get to a fellow soldier’s funeral on time.
Okay, they’re selling this film as some sort of Turner & Hooch-esque road, buddy comedy.
It’s not.
Sure, it tries to be that for a little bit up front, but it doesn’t ever really fully commit to it, and by the time we get into the back half of the film, this is really something else entirely.
And that thing is a much better thing than what they’re selling in the advertising.
Of course, anytime you put a man and dog together, funny crap is going to happen. It just is because, well… it’s a dude and his dog.
But that is 100% not what we’re watching this for by the end of the film.
This is a story about two damaged warriors trying to survive in a world they are simply no longer equipped to live in.
Sure, it’s an old topic (and one the general public need reminded of now and then), but this one just feels different.
I’m not going to spoil everything here, because we’re going to be talking about this one. I’d like to save some of the good stuff for that, but suffice it to say that watching Dog made me come to some realizations about my own military service…
…and I’m not even a combat veteran war hero like Briggs and Lulu.
Not even close.
Tatum is at his best as he discovers what he’s really doing here, which is showcasing the mindset of a veteran desperate to get back in the game, without realizing (or maybe realizing but not caring) that game is killing him, whether he’s currently playing or not.
Once he realizes he no longer needs the game is when his healing can begin.
Ethan Suplee has come a long way from his time in Mallrats and Remember the Titans, as he gives a nuanced performance as a fellow veteran who is already traveling down the path to recovery Tatum doesn’t even realize he needs to find, much less navigate for himself.
Yes; I teared up a few times during the movie, for varying reasons.
And so will you, if you have a soul.
Dog is now in theaters.
Dog stars Channing Tatum, Jane Adams, Kevin Nash, Q’orianka Kilcher, Ethan Suplee, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Nicole LaLiberté, Luke Forbes, and Ronnie Gene Blevins.
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