DOG (2022)
Tagline: A filthy animal unfit for human company and a...Dog
(Drama, Comedy, Grumpy Canine) [PG-13]
That's MY unicorn!
In this one, a canine Army Ranger named Lulu and Jackson Briggs are on a trip to get to a soldier’s funeral on time. Neither of them wants to be there but over time a bond builds all while Jackson struggles against his inner demons and Lulu’s to find a second purpose in life.
I wound up checking out this movie because for the most part, I do like a lot of Channing Tatum’s roles (G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA) and I really, really, like dogs. I think part of me knew this was going to be more drama than comedy, but I wasn’t expecting some of the weird turns it took. We have scenes where Jackson just breaks laws left and right, and we have scenes where he and Lulu are nearly killed, it’s a bit much for a movie about a trip across the country, but there are some elements that work well.
What goes right in this movie is the character growth concerning both Jackson and Lulu. There are some pretty funny moments in here and I actually did like some of the secondary characters. Also the dog Lulu is for the most part pretty cool.
Where I thought this thing kind of went sideways is in Jackson’s behavior overall. He essentially breaks every misdemeanor you can possibly break on a road trip. He even breaks a law to end the movie on. Not that in movies I expect law-abiding citizens to never do anything wrong to accomplish a goal, but this movie is overkill on that. However, that wasn’t the biggest issue I had with this movie. My biggest issue was the soundtrack. Not even the score. The score was fine. It’s the soundtrack. No one should be subjected to that level of country music. I thought I was going to end up a victim of “death by country music”.
Pacing wise this is pretty slow and while we do have things going on, the conversations and struggles are kind of muted when it’s mostly Tatum trying to carry this film to the finish line. I think I also was not crazy about the role that Emmy Raver-Lampman (THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY) had in this. She is a brilliant actress that was reduced to a role where she’s basically just hitting on Jackson. There was nothing romantic here, nothing of any depth or soul between characters and I think just a few touches could have really added to the script.
Regarding the topic it covered, and how trauma can affect you this movie hit on most points I would expect it to, but it just didn’t hit on the reasons I got to see movies. It feels like it might have been better as a documentary rather than a feature film. Having said all that, if you like dogs or have someone close to you who is in the military this might be up your alley. I definitely didn’t hate it and it won’t be near my TOP 10 for 2022, but it also won’t be in my TOP 20 either.
DOG gets a 3 out of 7. I felt like there was a lot that could have been done with this or left out of this that didn’t hit the mark. What we got on screen was “Just Okay”.
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