The two adults across the aisle from me brought their young children to the film. I’m guessing the kids were maybe ages four and five. Seeing “Dog” in the title, the parents obviously thought this was a family film. I would love to be present when the questions come out.
“Momma, what’s PTSD? Why did both the man and the Dog have it?”
“Daddy, what was that man doing in the bar when he was talking to all those strange women? What about when he took off his shirt and hugged two of them?”
“What was that one-finger gesture he gave to the army guy and the police guy? And what does the word ‘raghead’ mean?”
And who knows what the kids made of the film Deliverance moment – when Briggs (star/co-director Channing Tatum) awakens from a tranq dart to find himself tied to a chair in a barn while being grunted at by the local livestock. I’m sure the kids just looooooved that.
Briggs wants back to the army in the worst way. I’m glad the army has hurdles for PTSD victims; I’d be disturbed if they didn’t. After a bit of shell shock, Briggs has all-day headaches, a mysterious ringing in his ears, occasional double-vision, a pill regimen, and (I’m guessing) questionable decision-making abilities (although it could be he’s always made bad decisions even before he got involved in wars). After repeatedly citing a clean bill of health (which might be honest, but I’m guessing not-so-much), it’s down to a CO recommendation. His Captain says ok on one condition: “See this Dog? This Dog is a war hero and also suffering from PTSD. Take the Dog from here (Oregon) to Arizona by Sunday for the funeral of her handler without incident, and you’ll get your wish.”
But Lulu the German Shepherd ain’t so easy. PTSD. And Briggs behaves as one who has never dealt with a Dog before in his life. After watching day one of Briggs and Lulu, I wouldn’t trust Briggs to watch my pet rock.
And this is the major problem with the film – it can’t really decide what it wants to be. The scenes where “ha ha, Briggs doesn’t know how to handle the Dog” and the nearly unwatchable moments where Briggs feigns blindness (with Lulu as his guide Dog) to score a free hotel room suggest the film is a family-friendly comedy. But the paragraphs above show exactly how it is neither. The film works best when Briggs accepts that he and Lulu are both damaged veterans in need of help, but that isn’t the travel buddy picture Channing Tatum clearly wanted to make.
In short: Dog is too trivial to be deep film and too heavy to be a fun film. Unless you’re Robert Zemeckis, this isn’t 
the line you want to straddle. Dog works best as an exposé on the symptoms and treatment of PTSD – although it’s kinda hard to tell because we learn much more how NOT to treat a PTSD vet than the proper way to deal with PTSD.
Dog would have been a perfect –and I mean 100% perfect- film to make a point about the mistreatment of post-war veterans in this country. If you believe in having a military, then you need to know how disposable and mistreated ex-military men and women are treated –health-wise- in the United States. Dog seemed to take the position that PTSD could all be treated with a companion. I’m sure that helps a great deal, but you’ve done a huge disservice to those who serve.
As is, I can see an honest effort being made here to ally with some of the problems of veterans and an introduction to the idea that animals can suffer from PTSD as well, but as this film excels at nothing in particular – not humor, not education, not sympathy, not drama, not emotion, you name it, I have no real use for this Dog.
An army guy with a life of regret
Gets an assignment he wouldn’t take on a bet
His prone canine charge
Totes baggage, extra large
Probably misinterpreted: “the dog needs a vet”
Rated PG-13, 101 Minutes
Director: Reid Carolin, Channing Tatum
Writer: Reid Carolin
Genre: Family-friendly PTSD?
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Vets, I hope
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People stuck wondering what the film wants to say
