On this episode of the Deep Focus podcast, host and Playlist EIC, Rodrigo Perez talks to Reid Carolin, the co-director and co-writer of “Dog,” which he made with co-writer/co-director and star Channing Tatum. Tatum’s been absent from the live-action big screen for nearly four years— the actor needed a break after his divorce and was feeling disillusioned with the industry. But part of the reason he was gone for so long, in addition to his personal life, was trying to write, direct, produce and star in the 20th Century Fox, “X-Men” spin-off “Gambit.” The film was a big passion project to Tatum but eventually fell apart after Disney bought Fox and absorbed it into the greater Marvel brand.
But all that directing prep work prepared them for “Dog,” a much-much different film, and a two-hander buddy comedy about a man and his… well, not-quite-best-friend yet. Tatum stars as a U.S. Army Ranger, battling PTSD and brain trauma, who is tasked with taking a military dog, Lulu, to the funeral of his handler. It’s also a road trip film, a soulful life-affirming drama, as well as the quirky comedy of all the detours it takes. Think Hal Ashby if he listed to a breezy Jack Johnson song between bong hits and gummie usage (read our review).
In this episode, we get to all things “Dog,” working with Tatum and their history, but we also dive into a lot of “Gambit,” since that was the film that led to “Dog.” And also, we dive into the “Magic Mike” series (you can read more in-depth about our “Gambit” part of the conversation here). Carolin and Tatum are the architects of the “Magic Mike” franchise, and they’ve brought back original director Steven Soderbergh to helm “Magic Mike 3: The Last Dance” (or the real title “Magic Mike’s Last Dance”). Carolin talks about Soderbergh’s mentorship to the two burgeoning filmmakers and gives us a taste of ‘The Last Dance,’ suggesting this is the closest Soderbergh has ever gotten to making a full-blown musical. Listen to the entire conversation below via our Spotify embed.
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