Channing Tatum Gives His Best Performance In This Streaming Success
Channing Tatum's directorial debut, Dog, also contains his best performance and it's now a top ten hit on Netflix.
For the first part of his career, Channing Tatum was being typecast as a generic, handsome action film star in less-than-stellar films including G.I.Joe, Haywire, and The Eagle. Once fans saw Tatum demonstrate his comedic chops in 21 Jump Street and how he helped make a male stripper film into an intense character study, the star’s acting prowess is no longer questioned. His latest film, Dog, features the Magic Mike star’s best dramatic performance to date and it’s currently one of Netflix’s top movies according to FlixPatrol.
In Dog, Channing Tatum plays former U.S. Army Ranger Jackson Briggs, suffering from PTSD and a brain injury that keeps him from returning to active duty. Hoping his commanding officer will nominate him for a return to the frontlines, Briggs offers to take his recently deceased friend’s K-9 companion to Arizona for the funeral. Afterwards, Lulu the Belgian Malinois, is be euthanized due to her history of aggressive behavior.
What happens when Briggs and Lulu hit the road is, from the film’s trailers, a series of comic misadventures but in an example of Hollywood marketing, the movie is instead really about an American serviceman making the adjustment to life after active duty. Though Lulu’s a dog she’s also exhibiting similar symptoms of PTSD to Briggs causing the two to bond on their odyssey to Arizona. 16 years ago, Channing Tatum would not have been able to play this role.
Joining Channing Tatum in his best dramatic role to date is a series of familiar faces including Ethan Suplee (My Name is Earl), Q’orianka Waira Qoiana Kilcher (Yellowstone), Nicole LaLiberte (Twin Peaks: The Return), comedian Bill Burr, and another Magic Mike star, WWE Hall of Famer Kevin Nash. Directing Tatum behind the camera was someone he hopefully gets along with incredibly well: himself. That’s right, Dog is also the directorial debut for the Step Up star.
Critics and fans flocked to the film in theaters earning Dog $85 million during its theatrical run. Rotten Tomatoes has the movie 77% fresh with an incredible 89% audience score. Both professional reviewers and amateurs alike agree that Channing Tatum is fantastic in his role and as a result, the road trip drama exceeded everyone’s expectations.
2022 was a huge year for the star, as not only was Dog a hit, but his romantic adventure comedy with Sandra Bullock, The Lost City, dramatically overachieved as well. Channing Tatum’s uncredited cameo as a passenger in Brad Pitt’s Bullet Train was an immediate fan-favorite scene.
This year kept the momentum going with the release of Magic Mike’s Last Dance, the third film in a trilogy of films about a male stripper. Co-starring Salma Hayek, the movie is in the middle of a successful run in theaters, which is something no one would have expected back in 2012 following the release of the first film. Coming up next for Channing Tatum is Pussy Island, a thriller directed by his girlfriend, Zoe Kravitz.
Dog can be streamed now on Netflix, where it is currently the sixth most popular film on the service.
