“Dog.” / “I Am a Soldier.

“Dog” (2022, Tubi) comedy drama road film directed by Channing Tatum and Reid Carolin, both making their respective film directorial debuts. The film stars Mr Tatum as an Army Ranger who is tasked with escorting the military dog of his fallen friend to his funeral. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, praising the direction as well as Channing’s performance, and was also a box office success, grossing $85 million worldwide.

       There's really nothing so new about the storyline. Dog movies are pretty much the same and almost all of them elicited tears from many “hooman” eyes, of course. “Dog” is no different. However, Lulu–the female Belgian Malinois–touched me at a time when Hurricane Helene was crushing me mentally, a PTSD stab that brought me back home. Wounded memories of typhoon deaths and cataclysmic destruction.

       What has a dog got to do with it? Far from my home country and family, I felt “alone.” Not alone to face the shudder here in Asheville but alone to relive the many nightmares that I survived many years ago. I had no ally in that kind of emotional agony. So calm wasn’t there; all panic within.

       But a dog. Beside me? That’s all I ever needed. And “Dog” touched that way. And yes, I wept. As Arrow watched me with confused but consoling eyes. 🎥👍📽

“I Am a Soldier” (2015, Tubi) French-Belgian drama, directed by Laurent Larivièr. In French, “Je suis un soldat,” the title is taken from the lyrics of the Johnny Hallyday song "Quand revient la nuit.” Set in Roubaix in France, the story follows Sandrine, an unemployed young woman who finds herself initiated into the illegal trade of dog trafficking. I know, like me, a movie with a dog in a starring role is a must-see. However, this indie isn't the dog movie that we are obsessed with. 

       First screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, Louise Bourgoin won Best Actress at the Cabourg Film Festival in Normandy, and Cairo International Film Festival for her restrained but quietly intense performance as Sandrine. 

       When I realized that the movie isn’t about a dog that’d eventually squeeze my heart or coaxes me to cuddle Arrow The Good Doog, I felt like “Okay, next!” But the story is an interesting albeit socially significant navigation of the illicit (dog) trade that isn’t explored much in cinema. Reminds me of the 2000 Mexican psychological drama, “Amores Perros” by Alejandro González Iñárritu, which deals with a teenager in the slums who gets involved in dogfighting. 🎥👍📽