DOG

"Objectionable Content Mixed with a Moral Backbone"

Content: -3 Excessive sex, violence, immorality, and/or worldview problems. (Sometimes excessive content such as violence is in otherwise redemptive movies.)

Entertainment Quality:

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Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity
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What You Need To Know:

In DOG, Jackson Briggs lives in Montana and works for Subway, but he’s not content with his lifestyle. He was an Army Ranger and wants to get back into the Rangers. While mourning his friend’s death, also a former ranger, Briggs meets an officer who says he needs Briggs to bring the friend’s dog to the funeral in Arizona. If Briggs succeeds, he’ll consider getting him back into active duty. The only problem is the dog, Lulu, is temperamental and struggles with PTSD.

Ultimately, DOG is a heartfelt movie about going out of one’s way to do the right thing, but it has some negative content. The protagonist has a great character arc where he begins with selfish motives but realizes the value of taking care of others, honoring friends and caring for his daughter. There are Christian elements at a funeral and some discussions about God. However, there are also false religious and pagan elements. DOG also contains has lots of foul language, drug use, some sexual behavior, violence, and immoral actions. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises that some of DOG is excessive.

Content:

(PaPa, BB, CC, FRFR, P, E, PC, LLL, VV, S, N, AA, DD, MM):

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

Mixed pagan worldview with a moral backbone where protagonist realizes the value of taking care of others, honoring one’s friends and showing up for his daughter, a character mentions he’s praying for his friend but doesn’t say to whom he’s praying, other Christian elements including scenes at a funeral where priest references the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and quotes “May he make his face. . .,” but other characters don’t reference the God of the Bible, and the idea of God appears to be more open ended, and there’s some false religion and theology such as protagonist meets people who talk about how he and his dog are connected through reincarnation and karma, two women claim they can heal people’s energies through sex, in another scene at a bar protagonist he pretends to share the worldview of whoever is in front of him in hopes for sex too, and side character says, “Oh my Buddha,” patriotic elements as soldiers honor a late army ranger and his grieving family requests taps be played, environmentalist elements include a mention of animals being people too, and characters a bar discuss how “no one owns Mother Earth”, and a brief politically correct discussion about someone having a “white savoir complex

Foul Language:

At least 56 obscenities (including one “f” word), three Jesus profanities, 39 light profanities (mostly MG), character flips off a police officer and an army man, and depicted animal urination and drooling

Violence:

Strong and light violence includes a scene at a shooting range, man is shot with a dart that knocks him out, large dog attacks a man in a hotel lobby and knocks him off his feet, conversations about suicide after returning from active duty, man throws a rock at a truck’s window to let a dog escape, and glass shatters, and the dog goes after the man but he’s not gravely injured, a broken window in another scene signals a theft occurred, man veers off the road and abruptly brings the truck to a halt, a mention of a dog’s body count during war, and a man has a seizure but lives

Sex:

No depicted or graphic sex but man jokes about sleeping with his friend’s mother, man wants to have a threesome with two women, the women appear on either side of him as his shirt is off, but they don’t end up having sex because his dog interrupts them, two women claim they can heal a man sexually through sex, but he writes them off in order to have intercourse, joke about rainbow vaginas

Nudity:

Upper male nudity in a few scenes, and implied full male nudity when a man takes a bath with a dog

Alcohol Use:

Depicted alcohol and scene in a bar and depicted drunkenness

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

No smoking, but there’s a joke about Prozac, a character takes some medication, someone jokingly asks, “Are you high,” marijuana edibles are depicted, a scene implies some possible medication snorting, a marijuana greenhouse is depicted as well as smoking weed; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

Strong miscellaneous immorality such as man plays a scratch-off Lotto ticket, man claims to be blind to stay at a fancy hotel, but eventually the truth comes out that he isn’t blind, man and a dog stay in a barn without asking the owner, but they thank the owner with a piece of wood that has “Thanks” carved on it upon leaving, and a woman calls her husband an idiot.

More Detail:

DOG follows a former Army Ranger who must take his late friend’s temperamental dog to his funeral in Arizona. Ultimately, DOG is a heartfelt movie, with some positive Christian references, about going out of one’s way to do the right thing, but it has lots of foul language and some sexual behavior, drug references, false religion, and other objectionable content. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises extreme caution.

Jackson Briggs lives in Montana and works at Subway, but he’s not content with his lifestyle. In fact, he used to be an Army Ranger and wants to get back into the same line of work. While mourning the death of his friend and former ranger, Briggs talks to an officer, who says he needs Brigg’s to bring his friend’s dog to the funeral in Arizona. If Briggs succeeds, he’ll consider getting him back into active duty. The only problem is the dog, Lulu, is temperamental and struggles with PTSD.

So out on the open road they go!

Briggs plans their first stop, Portland, Oregon. It takes a while for Lulu to get used to the change of scenery and comfortable on the road. She eats through Briggs’ seats, barks uncontrollably and takes off running whenever she gets the chance.

In response to Lulu’s erratic behavior, Briggs must pivot his plans and attitude constantly. Briggs wants to take time for himself on the trip, but Lulu’s high-strung behavior always seems to get in the way. Since Lulu isn’t great with new people, Briggs stays by her side begrudgingly.

The rest of their road trip takes them to a house in the woods, San Francisco, Los Angeles, a barn and then eventually to Arizona, just in time for the funeral. After the funeral Briggs must hand Lulu over to the rangers at an Arizona base. However, after a whirlwind trip and many lessons on patience, Briggs finds himself contemplating what’s the right thing to do for Lulu.

In DOG, Co-Directors Reid Carolin and Channing Tatum, who also plays Briggs, do a wonderful job directing and acting. The movie has clear chapters as Tatum’s character makes stops in various cities throughout the country before arriving at his final destination. There are also several instances of well-executed jeopardy where the stakes are high for the characters. That said, the movie’s ending wraps up quickly, almost too quickly.

Ultimately, DOG is a heartfelt movie about going out of one’s way to do the right thing, but it does have mixed worldview elements. The protagonist has a great character arc where he begins with selfish motives and, along his journey, realizes the value of taking care of others, honoring one’s friends and showing up for his daughter. A character mentions he’s praying for his friend, but not to whom he’s praying. Other Christian elements include scenes at a funeral where a priest references the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and quotes “May he make his face. . .” However, characters don’t reference the God of the Bible and the idea of God appears to be more open ended.

DOG contains some patriotic elements as soldiers honors an army ranger and his grieving family and gets taps played at a funeral. However, the protagonist meets people who talk about how he and his dog and connected through reincarnation and karma. At a bar the protagonist pretends to share the worldview of whoever is in front of him in hopes for sex too. At the bar, someone says, “Oh my Buddha,” there’s a mention of animals being people too, how “no one owns Mother Earth,” and a brief discussion about someone having a white savoir complex. At that same bar scene, two women claim to heal people’s energies through sex. DOG also has lots of foul language, some drug content, drunkenness, some sexual behavior, violence, and other immoral behaviors. MOVIEGUIDE® advises that some of DOG is excessive.

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What you listen to, watch, and read has power. Movieguide® wants to give you the resources to empower the good and the beautiful. But we can’t do it alone. We need your support.

You can make a difference with as little as $7. It takes only a moment. If you can, consider supporting our ministry with a monthly gift. Thank you.

Movieguide® is a 501c3 and all donations are tax deductible.