Is Tatum’s Dog all bark, no bite?
Athe monosyllabic title suggests Dog is not a subtle film. Not only does it star Channing Tatum, an actor of chiselled features but distinctly limited range, it’s co-directed by him too and is essentially a road-trip movie in which a brain-injured ex Army Ranger is charged with taking a dangerous military dog suffering from combat stress to the funeral of its former handler. It’s no masterpiece but better than I expected and it has an undeniable watchability. Parents, however, be warned, despite the tail-wagging title, it’s not for small children.
Most films featuring Andrea Riseborough are worth catching, and Here Before is no exception. Set in Co Antrim, it’s a slow-burning psychological drama that begins when a new family move into the house next door to longmarried Laura (Riseborough) and Brendan (Jonjo O’Neill). Megan, their new neighbours’ outgoing young daughter, seems to take a shine to Laura, and she to her, which begins to make sense as we learn that Laura has lost a daughter of her own. Writer Stacey Gregg makes her directorial debut here and does an impressive job of creating an unsettling atmosphere, helped by a quietly outstanding performance from Riseborough that captures Laura’s grief, hope and confusion. The Real Charlie Chaplin is a new documentary about the most instantly recognisable comedian the world has ever known. There’s no doubt it retells the familiar story of Chaplin’s life pretty well but there’s a sense of punches being pulled – particularly when it comes to Chaplin’s well-documented fondness for very young women and girls. To be fair, all this is there in Peter Middleton and James Spinney’s film, but when the moment comes to dig deeper, they look away instead. Disappointing.