“Muzzle” has a 25—74 critics/audience skew on Rotten Tomatoes. Seeing as how it’s a gritty K-9 (police dog) cop tale, this means the critics think it’s rubbish. And they’re right. It’s not art. It’s a movie for a frat-boy weekend night where nobody in the dorm managed to get a date, and so for Frat-house Friday movie-nite, along with abundant pizza and beer—“Muzzle” is perfect.
What Happens
LAPD Cop and former Marine Jake Rosser (Aaron Eckhart) patrols the mean streets of L.A. with his K-9 officer Ace. They have one-sided conversations in the cruiser, where Rosser recounts to the dog, his combat tours in Iraq (from which he still has lingering post traumatic stress disorder).
Rosser’s world goes topsy-turvy when Ace is shot. Infuriated that the EMT’s are assisting other injured cops and innocent bystanders, Jake punches a paramedic. Which of course gets recorded on someone’s camera phone, and goes viral.
In hot water with the LAPD brass, Jake is ordered to see a therapist (Grainger Hines), address his PTSD, talk to more human beings, and get back on the horse by getting a new dog. The talking-to-humans advice results him dating his neighbor Mia (Penelope Mitchell).
Rosser’s new partner is Socks, a formerly cartel-owned dog with titanium fangs, who needs training. He trains Socks under the supervision of his K-9 training supervisor Leland (Stephen Lang) and slowly but surely develops a bond with Socks.
Overall
“Muzzle” moves at a decent clip and will keep your attention. It’s got a couple of flaws, namely, that the writers, director, producers, and Eckart himself clearly forgot that one needs to be careful when refusing to heed W.C. Field’s advice: “never work with children or animals.” Charisma comes from being inwardly as still and empty as a pond of clear water and animals do this naturally, and it will always upstage the actor, unless that actor’s got world-class comedic chops like Channing Tatum in “Dog.”Also, Socks, from all that gangland abuse and titanium implant pain, should have been a much more visibly vicious animal, or a more skilled dog-actor. The pooch playing Socks is clearly a sweety. So the tension drains out in that regard.
“Muzzle” is perhaps a bit zealous in depicting the Los Angeles homelessness problem. Abundant graffiti, yes, but graffiti on the side of an LAPD precinct? With of heaps of homeless homies hanging outside the cop-house? It’s a bit cartoon-ish in wanting to check all the bad-city boxes: homelessness, gangs, cartels, Fentanyl, and Chinese involvement. And then there’s the fact that Rosser’s PTSD doesn’t stop him from being hired by the force.
Director/co-writer John Stalberg, Jr. isn’t quite sure what story he’s telling: Is it a hard-edged action/revenge picture? Or more of a tender cop-and-dog-cop story? The romance is half-baked for sure. Is it a commentary on America’s fentanyl crisis? None of these threads are particularly well developed.
“Muzzle” had decent potential, but it’s underdone and needed a few more script drafts. Still, like some slightly half-baked pepperoni on a slice, it’ll play well in dorms on Friday nights, regardless.
