Max

Inspirational films come in all sorts of avenues, whether it be about people, a certain belief, circumstances beyond anyone's control and it can center around animals. We have seen a plethora of films where an animal is something we can learn a thing or two about: "Lassie", "Flipper", "A Dolphin Tale", even the animated, "The Nut Job". Well, now we have a film centered on a dog named "Max".

When Kyle Wincott (Robbie Amell) is killed in the war in Afghanistan, his war dog, Max, suffers from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), just as much as his soldier counterpart. Because of Max's aggression, he is slated to be put down, for he won't listen to anyone else, until he meets Justin (Josh Wiggins), Kyle's younger brother, who happens to be in his own little world and doesn't want to deal with anyone else's issues but his own. The Wincott family, Ray (Thomas Haden Church), Pam (Lauren Graham) and son Justin decide to adopt Max so as to save him from an imminent death. Justin reluctantly attempts to train Max and believes he's a total wash until he meets Carmen (Mia Xitlali) who knows dogs well and shows Justin some tricks in how to harness Max's aggression. Everything seems to be going well until Tyler Harne (Luke Kleintank), Kyle's buddy in the war comes home. His presence appears to disturb Max thus perks Justin's ears as to why.

Others to round out the cast are Dejon LaQuake as Chuy, a buddy of Justin's, Jay Hernandez as Sergeant Reyes, Joseph Julian Soria as Emilio, Chuy's older brother, Owen Harn as Deputy Stack and Edgar Arreola as Cartel Leader.

As with other inspirational films, the best thing about this is how writers, Boaz Yakin and Sheldon Lettich were able to convey to their audience the importance of how much Justin needed Max and visa versa, however for much different reasons. Max is left without his handler/friend, Kyle and is now lost whereas Justin is as lost as he is in his own world and won't let anyone in out of fear, so he's become very self absorbed. These are both seasoned writers and were solid in conveying this connection well. This was solidly directed by Yakin ("Fresh" '94, "A Price Above Rubies" '98, "Remember the Titans" 2000, "Uptown Girls" '03, "Death in Love" '08, "Safe" '12). This guy is no novice when it comes to showing just the emotional impact he needs to move his audiences, this being no exception. Of course, having the film center around a dog is genius, considering most people are suckers when it comes to the connection between the owner and his dog, hence the 'man's best friend' concept. This becomes not only a rites of passage for Justin, but for Max as well, and how their trust for each other blossoms as their needs are met depending on the situation at hand.

Sure, there's a couple of slow places, a bit of choppiness, but all in all, this film is solid, both in its script and its storyline. Even though it does get a little sappy, one can be forgiving sense so much of the time we can empathize with these characters in this family action adventure.

Out of 4 Stars: 3                                   Rated: PG                                    111mins.