Starring: Channing Tatum, Brett Rodriguez, Jane Adams, Kevin Nash, Ethan Suplee, Bill Burr
Distributor: Roadshow Films
Runtime: 101 mins. Reviewed in Mar 2022
Reviewer: Peter W Sheehan
| 
| 
This comedy-drama follows the adventures, and misadventures, of a former Army Ranger who is paired with an aggressive military dog. Both travel together to try to get to the funeral in time of the dog’s former handler.
This American film tells the story of former U.S. Army Ranger Jackson Briggs (Tatum) and a large Belgian Malinois, military working dog, called Lulu (to whom the film is dedicated). They travel together from Washington DC across to the city of Nogales in the Santa Cruz-country of southern Arizona, in order to make it to the funeral of the dog’s former handler, Riley (Rodriguez).
At first, the dog and its new owner don’t get on, and they look as if they are enormously unsuited to each other. En route, they take enormous risks as they forge a relationship. In getting to know each other, they manage to put their own lives in danger, and they break the law to keep themselves on target to get to the funeral in time.
This is the first feature film for both directors – Tatum and Carolin. Tatum co-produced the film with Carolin, who co-wrote the script with Rodriguez. Tatum, who takes the lead role in the film, has been seen in high action movies such as The Hateful Eight (2015) and G.I. Joe: the Rise of Cobra (2009) but also in movies with a much more personal style of action such as Magic Mike (2012) and Magic Mike XXL (2015). This is Tatum’s first excursion into an animal-centred movie, though he led the cast of voices in the pet-friendly, animated-musical comedy, Smallfoot (2018).
In the movie, Briggs and Lulu are recovering from a particularly rough past. Briggs is facing the consequences of brain impairment caused by war action, while Lulu is traumatised dog, frequently forced to wear a muzzle, on Prozac, and known to be difficult to control – even to the point of attacking a Muslim man in Middle Eastern dress who happens to be walking quietly through the lobby of a luxury hotel. Fighting permanent impairment, Briggs wants to return to Army duty, and he is given one last chance by his superior officer to fulfil his desire. He has to get Lulu to the funeral, safe and sound, and if he fails, he will not be reassigned, and Lulu will be euthanised.
This film is not a simple pet tale, or a sweet dog story, but is a pro-war film with heart, and shows shared adventuring where high-octane action is firmly embedded in a largely sympathetic plotline. We learn about Briggs mostly through what he says to Lulu. Along the way, the film explores sensitive issues, such as the emotional trauma that war duty can cause. Tatum rises impressively to the challenge, and viewers are made aware of the legacy that war action can leave behind. In pursuit of its goals, however, the film takes some risks. It shows drug use, for example, which closes the film effectively off to younger audiences, who might have been more partial to Lulu, and it embeds into the film the adult suggestion that Luke’s beloved ex-handler may have suicided.
As with Red Dog (the 2011 Australian movie based on a true story), this film has its share of sad moments. But the movie ends happily, as Briggs and Lulu bond.
Overall, this is an animal-friendly comedy with bite, where Jackson and Lulu are paired against their will, and slowly become reconciled to each other, after surviving a range of adventures that demonstrates the wisdom of teaming up to become a more efficient and effective pair. Both human and dog are trying to recover from trauma, and both partially succeed. In several scenes of high adventuring, action appeal seems to get the upper hand, but the emotional residues of war are never far behind, and clearly show their mark.
12 Random Films…
