Dog – Das Glück hat vier Pfoten

Dog - Das Glück hat vier Pfoten hätte neben Komödie auch Drama in der Genrebox haben sollen, denn obwohl der Film viele humorvolle Momente enthält, behandelt er auch ernstere Themen (seelisches und körperliches Trauma, Familienbande, Selbstfindung), die nicht offenkundig Mainstream sind, auch wenn der Film einen Beigeschmack von Klischee und Vorhersehbarkeit hat. Sowohl Briggs als auch Lulu kämpfen gegen ihre Dämonen, und es ist immer einfacher, zu zweit zu kämpfen - man muss nur zu dieser Erkenntnis gelangen. Obwohl eine der Hauptfiguren ein Hund ist, haben die Filmemacher die Emotionen nicht überstrapaziert, wie es bei ähnlichen Filmen normalerweise der Fall ist - dennoch wurde ich während der Beerdigungsszene und der Sequenz mit Ethan Suplee ein wenig mitgerissen. Ein durchschnittlicher, aber sehr sympathischer Happen über eine unwahrscheinliche Freundschaft zwischen einem Menschen und einem Hund. (08.03.2022)

Usually, I'd give a movie like this three stars and feel satisfied, knowing I got what I expected. But I ended up adding a fourth star because Channing Tatum's performance was unexpectedly nuanced. He plays a guy who isn’t immediately likable — more of a jerk, really. But as his relationship with the dog, who plays the central role, evolves, so does his character. By the end, I found it genuinely heartwarming. Channing really nailed it here. Finally, a film where he's genuinely enjoyable and not playing a character that puts me off. (25.11.2023)

A likeable family road-movie drama that follows a familiar template, but has nothing to offend. The kind of feel-good movie for a Sunday afternoon that will please the ladies because of Tatum, and also dog-lovers. The premise is a bit unconventional, Tatum is a Marine who, due to a brain injury, is no longer wanted in the Army, but is given the task of transporting a dog to her former master's funeral. The dog is very aggressive and taming it will be no fun, and that leads to some comical situations in the first half. It probably needed a stronger emotional pull on the gate, but still the good feeling of the film remains. 6/10. (04.04.2022)

These generic films about the bond between man and animal usually don't surprise me with anything, they are the same with only a little variation and they try to sell their empty content through emotional wringing. And I expected the same here, but to my surprise, I got an unexpectedly solid film, in which the simple yet not boring story works, which despite a lot of commendable situations, goes successfully to the end and sells us 100 minutes of great chemistry between the leading duo – but ironically not only because of Channing Tatum, but mainly because of the great dog Lulu, who’s very believable from beginning to end. It's still an unnecessary film in an unnecessary genre that goes on and on and on, but for the position and tag Dog started with, it took it relatively well and I can say that I'm surprised at how "cool" it was. (13.09.2022)