Channing Tatum said that his new film, Dog, was inspired by the last road trip he took with his dying dog, Lulu. Dog is an American comedy that is set to premiere in theaters on February 18, 2022, and will mark Tatum's directorial debut. Dog also marks Tatum's return to acting, after he stepped out of the spotlight for several years to recharge. The American actor and producer is best known for his roles in Magic Mike, 21 Jump Street, and Step Up. Magic Mike and 22 Jump Street saw Tatum collaborate with producer Reid Carolin, who also wrote, co-directed, and co-produced Dog.
Dog follows U.S. Army Ranger Jackson Briggs (Tatum) who is tasked with bringing a dog, Lulu, down the Pacific Coast to attend her handler's funeral. Lulu is a Belgian Malinois military dog, whose owner is a fallen soldier. However, Briggs and Lulu don't exactly get along and manage to wreak quite some havoc on their road trip together. The film also stars Jane Adams, Kevin Nash, Q'orianka Kilcher, Ethan Suplee, and Emmy Raver-Lampman. As reviews start to come in for Dog, Tatum is opening up on what inspired his road trip drama.
In an interview with Yahoo!, Tatum revealed that Dog was inspired by the loss of his own dog, Lulu, and their last road trip together. In 2018, Lulu, a pit bull Catahoula mix, was diagnosed with cancer, causing Tatum to head out for one last road trip with her. The road trip served as his acknowledgement that there wasn't anything he could do, besides soak up every last moment he had left with Lulu. While it was his loss that inspired Dog, Tatum chose to make a film that focused on the beginning of an owner's relationship with a dog and the creation of lasting memories. Check out his statement below:
Developing it [Dog] and really talking about what dogs mean and what dogs mean to specifically me, or to soldiers, or to anyone really, and primarily we landed on this word 'surrender'. And that was to me really what I had to learn. When I went on my last road trip with my puppy, [I experienced] that feeling of, 'There's nothing I can do. There's nothing left to do.' You just have to accept it and be thankful for the time that you did get and know that they're not supposed to be here forever. I'm supposed to go on and she has to go someplace else.
Tatum's return to acting in Dog has received praise from critics, who said that his five years away from leading roles hasn't diminished his acting ability at all. His own story about losing Lulu certainly adds the rawness and authenticity needed for the role, considering that the film does have an emotional element to it. However, instead of recreating Lulu's story and focusing on her death with Dog, Tatum chose to focus on and celebrate the life of a dog and the bonds that they form with humans. The film has received some criticism for being misguided and not adequately investigating various military-related issues, despite diverting from the comedic tone to touch on them briefly. However, the sentiment Dog captures on the companionship between a dog and man, still serve to create several touching and powerful moments in the film.
Dog's themes on the bond between a dog and its owner are made more powerful with Tatum's story in mind. While there are plenty of feel-good stories out there about dogs, few truly examine the loss of a dog or the loss of a dog's owner. However, these losses do occur, and the grief that dog owners experience is very real and painful. What Tatum's film Dog does, is offer healing without making owners relive the grief and loss. Dog allows viewers to reminisce on their own fun adventures and the friendships they built with their dogs. For both those who own dogs or have lost dogs, Dog is a celebration of a dog's life and relationship with humans that is made all the sweeter with Tatum's story of his own Lulu.
Source: Yahoo!