Dog (2022) * * *

 

Directed by:  Channing Tatum and Reid Carolin

Starring:  Channing Tatum, Ethan Suplee, Kevin Nash, Bill Burr, Jane Adams

Dog is billed and advertised as a comedy, but despite occasional amusement from the misadventures involving former Army Ranger Jackson Briggs (Tatum) and a Belgian Malinois named Lulu who served in a war zone as part of Briggs' unit, Dog is a drama and a compelling one.   Briggs is a former Ranger who suffered serious brain damage requiring him to be on meds for the rest of his life to avoid having seizures.  However, civilian life has not treated him well, and he is desperate to return to active duty.   Despite receiving dubious medical clearance, none of Briggs' superior officers will vouch for him until one does.

The officer will make the call clearing Briggs to return if he does one thing:   Drive Lulu from Oregon to Arizona to attend the funeral of one of Briggs' former unit members.   Not as easy as it sounds, because Lulu is so traumatized by war that she is unable to be treated and will be put down after the funeral.  Briggs is every bit as traumatized, but still wants to return to the Rangers anyway.   To him, it beats building sandwiches at Subway for snotty customers or not being able to see his daughter who lives in California.  

We think we know what will happen and in many cases we are correct, but Dog is acted and directed (Tatum also in his directorial debut along with screenwriter Reid Carolin) with sensitivity concerning the animal's welfare and the plight of veterans who are unable to transition to civilian life.   Lulu isn't human, but experienced the same trauma and stress as her human counterparts.   At first, Briggs figures he can just keep Lulu chained up in the back seat of his truck and keep a muzzle on her.   Lulu runs away and she and Briggs encounter paranoid marijuana farmers who think the two are part of a government surveillance project.   The scenes here are allowed to play out and we find unexpected warmth as a payoff.

When Briggs schemes his way into a free hotel stay by posing as a blind veteran with Lulu as his seeing-eye dog, this also unfolds in an unpredictable way with the better side of human nature winning out.   Dog succeeds because it allows the best in its characters, both human and canine, to come out.  Sure the ending is predictable as Lulu and Briggs bond better than either would've expected, but we are heartened to know Briggs did the right thing.