Review: Channing Tatum and his dog co-star raise the woof

Channing Tatum plays U.S. Army Ranger Briggs in the new film “Dog,” which he co-directed with his longtime producing partner Reid Carolin

Something would have had to go very, very wrong for “ Dog ” not to work on a basic level. Pairing Channing Tatum, one of our most likable leading men, with a dog in a road trip two-hander is probably the closest you can get to a guaranteed win in Hollywood.

This is also a project that was born out of utter sincerity in the wreckage of a few years wasted on a squashed superhero movie. Tatum and his longtime producing partner Reid Carolin put their heads together to make something small, something meaningful, something they could do by themselves and something that they would want to see in a movie theater. And “Dog” was born, with both Tatum and Carolin making their directorial debuts.

In addition to directing, Tatum plays former U.S. Army Ranger Jackson Briggs, who is a lost soul when not in deployment. His day job making sandwiches at a Subway-type fast casual restaurant isn’t exactly giving him life. And all he wants is to get back overseas. There, he feels, he has a purpose. But though he has the motivation, he needs a recommendation, too, and his superior is not budging on that.

Then he gets an assignment: Take Lulu, a Belgian Malinois who Briggs served with, from Washington to Arizona for her handler’s funeral. If he can do this, maybe he’ll get the recommendation and be back in the field. Lulu, who is played by three different dogs, is not doing well, though. She can’t handle flying and she’s prone to attacking people, so they have to drive the 1,600 miles to make the service.