With the Middle East wars continuing as long as they have, Hollywood has been able to produce a bevy of war films to not only entertain us, but hopefully teach us something in the process. We've seen a plethora of them: "Jarhead" '05, "Stop-Loss" '08, "The Hurt Locker" '08, "Zero Dark Thirty" '12 to mention a handful, but not too many have chronicled a marine and a canine who save lives. Not that it's gotten a lot of press, but "Megan Leavey" has got to be one of the most effective Middle East war dramas the screen has seen in a while.
Based on the true life story of a young marine corporal, Megan Leavey (Kate Mara) whose unique discipline and bond with her military combat dog, saved many lives during their deployment in Iraq. When she is assigned to clean up the K9 unit after a disciplinary hearing, Leavey identifies with a particularly aggressive dog, Rex, and is given the chance to train him by Gunny Martin (Common) and told if she screws this up she's history. Over the course of their service, Megan and Rex completed more than 100 missions until an IED explosion injures them, putting their fate in jeopardy. She befriends another marine, Matt Morales (Ramon Rodriguez) who also has a combat dog of his own, so between his encouragement, not to mention that of Sgt. Andrew Dean (Tom Felton), Leavey feels less pressure. After Leavey finishes her tour of duty, she quickly works at the possibility of adopting Rex and comes to realize, all too soon, that this task is certainly easier said than done.
Others to round out the cast are Bradley Whitford as Bob, Megan's father, Edie Falco as Jackie Leavey, Megan's mother, Geraldine James as Dr. Turbeville, Will Patton as Jim, Megan's stepfather, Miguel Gomez as Gomez, Jonathan Howard as Pete Walters, Shannon Tarbet as Barb and Corey Johnson as Master Sergeant.
Interesting that this was directed by documentarian, Gabriela Cowperthwaite ("City Lax: An Urban Lacrosse Story" (Documentary) '10, "Blackfish" (Documentary) '13), but considering this film was, not only a biopic, but was presented in a documentary like format, it should be no surprise. She will surely receive more work if this film has any clout at all. It was executed well by writers Pamela Gray, Annie Mumolo and Tom Lovestedt. Gray is the most seasoned writer here with several films and tons of TV to her credit, and even though Mumolo's resume includes a lot of comedies, she has proven she can write a brilliantly cohesive, well thought out dramatic script. The only one here with the least amount of experience is Lovestedt which debuts with this film. With this screenplay under his belt, he should be offered more work. As stated prior, this film's script was cohesive, tight and was conveyed so easily that the audience will be riveted to their seats. Certainly tying up this true story with a follow up at films' end of Megan and Rex replete with film footage, made for a nice closing as well.
If you like war films, this is for you, however this was as much a human experience film as it was a 'war film', and so there was something for everyone here. Not that it's a spoiler alert, but if you decide to see this, bring a half a box of Kleenex. This film, like so many others are important to see, if for no other reason, than to appreciate what our men and women do under the most stressful conditions to protect the very freedoms that we blatantly take for granted.
Out of 4 Stars: 4 Rated: PG-13 116mins.
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