Dog [Blu-Ray]

Directors: Reid Carolin, Channing Tatum

Cast: Channing Tatum, Jane Adams, Kevin Nash

Release Date: May 10, 2022

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 7.5/10
Disc Rating: 6.5/10

Synopsis:

Dog is a buddy comedy that follows the misadventures of two former Army Rangers paired against their will on the road trip of a lifetime. Army Ranger Briggs (Channing Tatum) and Lulu (a Belgian Malinois dog) buckle into a 1984 Ford Bronco and race down the Pacific Coast in hopes of making it to a fellow soldier’s funeral on time. Along the way, they’ll drive each other completely crazy, break a small handful of laws, narrowly evade death, and learn to let down their guards in order to have a fighting chance of finding happiness.

Please Note: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Post. The opinions I share are my own.

‘Dog’ accompanies former army ranger Briggs (Tatum) who is struggling with getting back to a normal life away from the army and desperately trying to find a way back in when a fellow soldier’s death gives him the chance he’d been seeking. Now he’ll have to take the soldier’s companion and fellow soldier Lulu, a Belgian Malinois dog to be the guest of honor at his funeral before taking her to be euthanized due to her erratic and violent behavior which if he accomplishes without incident could get him back in the fold. Along the way the two soldiers clash at every turn as they are thrown into one mishap and dangerous situation after another on the road trip. The one thing Briggs didn’t expect though was to develop a bond with the dog that could make his task significantly more difficult.

Directed by Reid Carolin and Channing Tatum and marking the directorial debut of each, from a screenplay that was also written by Carolin (Magic Mike) and a story by Carolin and Brett Rodriguez. Carolin and Tatum do a pretty great job at the helm of ‘Dog’ guiding along the humorous fun and capably balancing it with plenty of heart. The cast includes Channing Tatum (Logan Lucky) along with Jane Adams (TV’s Hung), Kevin Nash (John Wick), Q’orianka Kilcher (Color Out of Space), Ethan Suplee (The Hunt), Emmy Raver-Lampman (Blacklight), Nicole LaLiberte (TV’s Twin Peaks: The Return) and more, not to mention three immensely talented dogs who together portray Lulu and tend to frequently steal the show throughout.

‘Dog’ delivers a touching and quite humorous tale of two army rangers (one dog, one man) who are thrown together for a road trip that’s filled with danger, excitement and a whole lot of unexpected situations and encounters that will test each of them as they struggle to get along, while perhaps even leading to the beginning of an unexpected friendship that neither realized they wanted. It may not be a massively unique or original masterpiece that’s going to take home countless awards, but it knows exactly the kind of film it wants to be and at that it succeeds remarkably well. A simple tale of adventure and friendship that sends the viewer along with the pair for one exciting, intense or even silly encounter after another that comes together into a more moving tale than many would expect without ever becoming unbearably emotional or truly heartbreaking in the process.

Tatum offers a solid performance as the human lead and his chemistry with the canine lead(s) is obvious throughout, while the truly talented dogs that portray Lulu are probably the true stars here and really help to make this one work as well as it does. I would definitely encourage any fans of Channing Tatum or amusing buddy comedies in general to try and find the chance to give ‘Dog’ a whirl when possible. It’s a sweet, moving and funny adventure brimming with humor and heart that manages to deliver a rewarding tale of struggle and newfound friendship that’s worth taking the time to check out.

Overall, ‘Dog’ is a fast paced buddy comedy with some emotion and beauty around the edges that’s well balanced by plenty of exciting turns and quite a few laughs; with a surprisingly touching story of friendship and struggle at its core. ‘Dog’ is definitely recommended, especially for anyone that’s a diehard fan of Tatum or just appreciates a kindhearted comedic adventure with a lot of fun to be had along the way. If you’ve been looking forward to this one it should be worth a couple hours of your time and the cost of a rental one relaxing evening at home. While it probably couldn’t hurt to rent a copy first if you haven’t yet had the pleasure of the film, don’t be terribly surprised if some of you also find yourself wanting to purchase a copy after.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Dog’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation with the film’s original 2.39:1 Cinemascope Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks quite good as a whole and provides a clean and richly detailed presentation from start to finish with no unexpected issues to be uncovered along the way. It holds up smoothly throughout even during the various fast moving and darkly lit moments; never finding itself bogged down by video noise or any notable black crush and looking crisp and sharp every step of the way. Overall, this is a solid high definition video presentation that should more than satisfy both fans and first time viewers.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. This multichannel soundtrack makes a nice complement to the onscreen fun and offers a crisp, clean and fairly active audio presentation throughout. It utilizes all five available channels at every reasonable opportunity in order to send weather and action effects, along with vehicle activity, music and bits of crowd chatter throughout the various speakers quite regularly and never resulting in any dialogue or other audio elements that might be occurring simultaneously becoming distorted or rendered inaudible in the process. Overall, this is a great 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack that does its job well and contributes its share of extra fun and excitement to the viewing experience.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘Dog’ doesn’t contain any bonus content aside from the film’s ‘Official Trailer’ (running approximately 2 minutes in length).

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Film Rating: 7.5/10
Disc Rating: 6.5/10

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‘Dog’ is Now Available to Own on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital from Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures & Warner Bros. Home Entertainment

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