Max (2015)

Best movie of this year hands down!

So much average

Good concept, poorly executed.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Kyle Wincott (Robbie Amell) and his dog Max are hunting for weapons in Afganistan. His superiors suspect some of the confiscated weapons have gone missing. Kyle's younger brother Justin is a disappointment to their father Ray (Thomas Haden Church). Pamela (Lauren Graham) is their loving mother. When Kyle is killed, Max is devastated and becomes uncontrollable. Max is taken to Justin during the funeral and Justin adopts him. Justin's friend Chuy's cousin Carmen helps him train Max. Chuy's other cousin Emilio is a drug dealer. Kyle's suspicious comrade Tyler Harne comes to visit and Max is not happy.The plot is more convoluted than necessary. Max as a war dog should be enough to make a tear jerker. Instead, this is overloaded with convenient bad guys with an interconnected villainous plot. A simpler villain for Justin and Max to tackle would have made this infinitely more compelling. I don't find anybody overly objectionable. It is the story that needs some cleaning up. Also, I was hoping the Mexican kids could buck the stereotype but they end up having a drug dealing cousin. A feel-good old fashion war dog movie could be good family fun but this keeps going off track.

Let's all say it together: WTF.Seriously, this film was such a let-down. It had a really good premise, but the writers must have got lost in a tale of Lassie half-way. It became ludicrous, unbelievable, and worse- CORNY. Like, badly corny. Cringey, even. Highlighting the beautiful work of war dogs is admirable, but so sad to see it completely misrepresented in this way. By far the dog was the best actor, and by far the best scene was the dog's origin story.//SPOILER ALERT// So, the military have a funeral for Kyle (which, was honestly quite heartfelt to watch), and then they release the "possible aggressive" war dog with PTSD into the care of the family? Err, that's not real. Then the family (who were not at all briefed on PTSD in dogs) put him in the backyard tethered and caged and alone - hmmm. Dog abuse? Apart from some fireworks (which scare all dogs by the way), Max seems perfectly fine to bound around like a happy young thing. Then when the shady bits take place, I wonder why do kids, with mobile phones and connections with the army, not call the military police or federal police to report a crime? Since when do bad guys not gag a hostage? And do bad guys really chase after dogs and kids instead of securing their gun deals? Like, really?? If the police were in on the whole gun deal, then why not explore that deeper? OK, so it's a kids film, I hear you say- but if it's a kid's film, it needs to be completely PG and silly. Yet the topic is REAL. The topic is meaningful. The topic of this film is meant to be about a war dog whose handler was in killed in action. That is a heavy tale to tell. If this film is about the dogs, and as the end of the film said, "in memory of the dogs who served", then why introduce the shady gun deal? And worse still- Why kill the bad marine dude? Yeh, he's bad, but he didn't deserve to die. He deserved military court. Kids movies need to stop putting in falseness, especially when you're talking about the war- a war currently taking place. OMG, how do you expect kids will understand this film? Tell the truth, join the marines, chase men with guns, all bad guys die (even those on our side who make bad decisions) - yikes. A bit rigid, eh? 2 stars.

I am a big fan of 'Max." Not only because it does not have a lot of unnecessary sex and bad language (I say unnecessary because there are movies that do), but it is not a straightforward Hallmark type movie. First and foremost it is relationship movie about a very damaged family (The Wincott's) over the death of oldest son Kyle (who was a dog trainer) in combat. You have "By The Book" Marine Father Ray (Thomas Hayden Church), his wife Pam (Lauren Graham), and son Justin (Josh Wiggins). They are given the Belgian Malinois named Max who he trained, You first see the dog, at Kyle's funeral when he goes up to Justin (he knew he was connected to Kyle). Later on, you are introduced to Justin's best friend Chuy (Dejon LaQuake and his cousin on his mother's side Carmen (Mia Xitlali), who was kicked out of the home by her father because she had a tattoo and did not dress correctly. He also had another Cousin Emilio who was a drug dealer (his father's side) , and last but not least Tyler who served with Kyle.Spoilers Ahead: Carmen is the one who teaches Justin about 'Max' and how to properly care for him, and he learns to love 'Max' and does stuff like sleep in is cage with him, when the dog is frightened because of fireworks. He also prevents his father from killing him because he believes 'Max' is responsible for his son's death. As it turned out Emilio and Tyler were selling guns to the Mexican Cartel, and they kidnap Ray and 'Max' ends up saving him, and then Justin when Tyler was going to kill him. What is really interesting is the ending where everything is not tied up in a neat bow: There are still issues between Justin and his dad (but he does let 'Max' live in the home with them), and Chuy is reluctant to admit Emilio did anything wrong and belongs in jail and says "The family will be in trouble." In addition to Max, Carmen is the most interesting character. She develops a relationship with Justin so that she will become his girlfriend and I suspect eventually a much deeper relationship. Besides teaching him about dogs, she teaches him about life "About not letting others disrespect your father." (despite him kicking her out of the home, so she had to sleep on the couch at Chuy's family's). You also see how 'Max' protects her from 'Choy' when he gets in her face (She was treated as one of the family by 'Max'), and how she is wearing a dress (something that she not only refused to do at home, but Emilio got on her for, and she gives it to Choy for letting him disrespect her. She never forgot who she was and where she came from, These quotes say what she is about. "Mexican's are not a race" she said to Choy when he made that statement, and when she calmly said her father and brother train stray put bulls after Ray asked if they are trained to fight. I strongly suspect that due to economics she will be moving into the Wincott home soon enough (probably by Pam who likes her (you see the reaction she has when Justin is walking 'Max' earlier in the movie and he gives Carmen the credit). Basically I love this movie. 10/10 Stars

Max is a boy meet dog who has faced psychological trauma in a war zone film.Max is a sniffer dog in Afghanistan and his handler, Kyle is killed. Back in the USA, Max only seems to be friendly with Justin, Max's rebellious younger brother who is still at school and it is decided to leave him with Justin.Justin is reluctant at first but eventually both of them bond, however Kyle's former army buddy causes issues by implying that Max was somehow responsible for Max's death.Later Max and Justin find themselves going after some gangsters dealing with stolen weapons which ties back to Afghanistan but the police are after Max and want to put him to sleep because they have been passed on some false information about him.Kids will likely to enjoy this film. The plot is fast and loose with plenty of plot holes and descends into silliness at the end which will make adults just shrug as it is so clunky.It is also very manipulative by allying itself closely with the military and the stars and stripes which it reckons the audience will uncritically lap up. If it wanted to seriously examine the role of military war dogs and the impact war has on them it is a big fail.Worse still some of the cast are left foundering and the normally reliable Thomas Haden Church gives a pedestrian performance as the dad.