Max Movie Blurb by Shale June 29, 2015 I saw the trailers of this PG rated movie and decided that it might be worth a watch for a guy who grew up watching The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin and Lassie on black & white TV. The opening credits to this movie inform us that dogs have been used by the military since WWI, so I guess Rin Tin Tin was fake. This is an updated version of those TV fantasies, where the dog is so smart it can figure everything out on its own and show up to save the day on multiple occasions. But, this Marine Corps Malinois Shepherd is the titular character in the movie, so what can you expect. It opens with a skype conversation between Marine Kyle Wincott (Robbie Amell) stationed in Afghanistan and his mother Pamela (Lauren Graham) in smalltown Texas. In the kitchen with her is dad Ray Wincott (Thomas Haden Church) a wounded Marine vet from an earlier war. Not participating is little brother with attitude, Justin (Josh Wiggins) who stays in the living room on his vid game. We also see Max with Kyle and his hometown friend and fellow Marine, Tyler Harne (Luke Kleintank). Early on we learn that Tyler is untrustworthy and up to no good. Justin is more interested in hanging with his friend Chuy (Dejon LaQuake), riding bike trails thru the woods and burning bootleg video games for sale. His dad wants him to work with him but apparently he makes more money ripping videos. Well, ya know that Kyle gets killed and Max is brot to the funeral. Altho Max does not get too close to Justin, he smells a similarity with Kyle and Justin has some control over him. Max has got dog PTSD and is about to be put down but the family takes him in. Max at Kyle's Coffin Justin's father puts him in charge of Max, who is still on a chain in the yard. Luckily Chuy's cousin from Mexico, Carmen (Mia Xitlali) is good with dog training and eventually Max is part of the pack. A Boy & his Dog & his Girl Hangin' Out There is one scene, where Justin shows he is becoming attached to Max (and dog owners take note this weekend) when he realizes what July Fourth fireworks must be doing to a dog with PTSD and spends time comforting him in his pen. Fourth of July The story takes a darker turn when Tyler shows up, saying he was wounded and got an early discharge and Ray gives him a job at his storage facility. Of course Max is a good judge of character and doesn't like Tyler at all. But that is attributed to his PTSD. Family & Sleazy Marine However, Max was right and the rest of the movie involves violence and danger for the kids and Max as they try to stop the bad guys. The critics didn't care too much for this movie with only 39% of the aggregate on Rotten Tomatoes giving it a Fresh. Their consensus: "Max has good intentions and tries to hearken back to classic family-friendly features, but its disjointed, manipulative plot overwhelms the efforts of its talented human and canine stars." [SIZE=12pt]But, 76% of audiences liked it, including me. [/SIZE]
