Max mixes two very popular but easily abused genres, the patriotic film and the animal film. The former easily can slide into jingoism; the latter tends toward schmaltz. However, as evidenced by American Sniper and Marley & Me, audiences dig these movies, so why not combine them?
Writer-director Boaz Yakin (the crowd-pleasing Remember the Titans) and co-writer Sheldon Lettich (he wrote Rambo III and way too many Jean-Claude Van Damme flicks, including Bloodsport and Double Impact) actually do a great job melding the two for a while, until their retro Hardy-Boys-meet-Lassie-meets-Tom-Sawyer final act.
Marine Kyle Wincott (TV regular Robbie Amell) and his dog, Max (the terrifically trained Carlos), are fighting the insurgency in Afghanistan when Kyle is killed in action. Suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, Max is scheduled to be put down, until Kyle’s family decide to take the dog home with them. Apparently, Max senses some of Kyle in his surly younger brother, Justin (Josh Wiggins, Hellion). With the help of his pals, Carmen (Mia Xitlali) and Chuy (Dejon LaQuake), Justin reaches the damaged Max. Too bad Justin has a generic strict-movie-vet dad (Thomas Haden Church) who, instead of listening to his civilian son, listens to Kyle’s bad squadmate, Tyler (Luke Kleintank, Amazon’s promising “The Man in the High Castle,” a Phillip K. Dick adaptation you should check out if you have Amazon Prime).
This vehicle runs as expected. Hero son dies. Dad doesn’t understand surviving son, while Mom (Lauren Graham, the only actor in the film who adopts an awkward Texas accent) holds them together. Family adopts damaged animal. Brusque teen bonds with wounded dog. Then it becomes Lassie Enlists (and Returns with PTSD) in its final act.
Max goes into Marine action to battle mean dogs and drug cartels. Yakin and Lettich are trying to punch up the old-fashioned family-adventure film. With little subtlety, Justin drops a Tom Sawyer reference. The movie should have continued on its merry patriot path rather than wandering off into the weeds of adventure novels past.
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