WATCH THE TRAILER HERE

First, the Recap:

It’s a story about a boy and his dog.  Sounds like many a previous description over the years in family-oriented films, the pairing of man and animal, in an often inspiring and profoundly moving way.  Director Boaz Yakin (“Remember The Titans“) and the producers of one such effort, “Marley & Me“, have brought this newest incarnation of the concept to very real and, honestly, very moving and inspirational life in “Max”. Focusing initially on Max (Carlos), a war dog belonging to soldier Kyle Wincott (Robbie Amell) serving in Kandahar, a mission goes awry, leaving Kyle gone and Max literally suffering from canine PTSD. Sent home to the United States, life seems to be over for this beautiful, well-trained survivor.

The story then shifts to Max being adopted by Kyle’s parents (Thomas Haden Church & Lauren Graham) and then put in the charge of his rebellious and heavily attitude-laden younger brother, Justin (Josh Wiggins), who very much reluctantly takes on care for Max, who seems to inherently trust Justin, most likely sensing his connection to his lost handler. Seeing Max as a pain to work with, Justin’s relationship with him grows in depth with the help of the cousin of his best friend, Carmen (Mia Xitlali). However, the dynamics in all their lives change radically when another Marine from Kyle’s platoon, Tyler (Luke Kleintank), surfaces and Max’s reaction to seeing him causes Justin to dig deeper into affairs well beyond the borders of suburbia, and gives the chance for Max to be a hero again.

Next, my Mind:

While other efforts in film to make dogs the focal point character have not always worked out the greatest, as they can come across almost too overtly sappy or overblown in their attempts to illicit heart-tugging emotion, “Max” is not in that category for this reviewer.  The film actually has several moments of very mature, intensely presented circumstances that place the viewer on edge and in wonder of what is coming next. And, even if we’ve figured it out, it doesn’t matter.  This is then deftly infused with heart and emotion via the character interactions/dynamics, as well as the messages about family, loyalty, and being open and willing to change.

But the real central point is driven home extremely well in seeing the building of that bond between Justin and Max.  Wiggins is very effective at emoting in this film, realistically showing Justin’s flippant, “who cares?” attitude being chipped away the closer he grows to Max.  And this German Shepherd, Carlos, is an absolute wonder, no lie. You cannot help but be drawn emotionally into this pooch’s war-torn internal strife, feeling its pain of loss, yet witnessing the beauty of what these animals can bring into a person’s life when said person shows the love and compassion that animal seeks. A solid supporting cast aids greatly here as well, but again, this movie is elevated and captivating in total all because of a four-legged creature known as man’s best friend.

As always, this is for your consideration and comment.  Until next time, thank you for reading!