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Dog
The legendary screen comedian W C Fields declared that actors should never work with small children or animals and this film is one of the reasons why. The 2022 film Dog is a sweet-natured if manipulative road/buddy picture that seems a lot better than it is thanks to the amazing animal in the title role.

Jackson Briggs, Riley Rodriguez, and Lulu all served in the Army Rangers together, but were separated when Riley was killed and Jackson suffered a severe head injury that got him discharged from the Rangers though he is trying to get back into combat. Lulu, a gorgeous Belgian Malingois, has been declared dangerous and unfit without Riley and doesn't remember Jackson at all. Despite that, Jackson has been assigned to take the dog cross country in order to attend Riley's funeral.

The producer and star of the Magic Mike franchise are responsible for this often hard to swallow but incredible story about two soldiers, brought together because of the death of a third, but one of the two soldiers happens to be a dog. Lulu's training is beautifully documented during the opening credits and serves as perfect backstory for this episodic man and dog travelogue that envelops the viewer thanks to Jackson and Lulu fighting each other tooth and nail and pretending not to understand each other when they really do.

They have me up to the glorious scene where Jackson pretends he is blind and Lulu is his seeing eye dog and they get a free hotel room because of the ruse, but this trick lands our heroes in jail, putting the film on an uncomfortable detour that took us further out of the story than we needed to go. It's almost worth it when we do get to the funeral and what Lulu does when she's released from the leash made me burst into tears.

Reid Carolin, the producer of the Magi Mike franchise and his star, Channing Tatum co-directed this film, and their lack of experience shows behind the camera shows with leaden direction that makes the film seem a lot longer than it needs to be, but Lulu almost makes up for it.