When his big brother Kyle (Robbie
Amell) is killed whilst serving in Afghanistan, surly teenager Justin (Josh
Wiggins) finds himself left with his brother’s precision-trained military dog
Max after his grieving parents agree to give him a home. Unfortunately most of
the plot is given away in the trailer but suffice to say when an old soldier
buddy of Kyle’s resurfaces in town, Max is not happy and leads Justin to
uncover some unsettling truths about the death of his brother.
While the film gets off to a fairly
strong start, good premise, cute dog, nice troubled kid/traumatised dog bonding,
it quickly starts to lose its way as the story takes hold. Perhaps it’s the predictable
nature of these types of animal adventures but the mystery feels by-the-numbers
as it unfolds with very little actual mystery or urgency to it. The plot is also
riddled with contrivances that serve only to put all the right people in the
right place for the finale that otherwise makes no sense.
Directed and co-written by Boaz
Yakin (Remember the Titans) it’s a nicely made movie, with its heart in the right place but it just doesn’t quite come together. It
has a feel of a Saturday TV matinee to it. The supporting characters are also too simplistically drawn. Grieving Mom (Lauren Graham) is trying to hold it all
together - still putting nice dinners on the table, giving out to Justin for
“cussing” (they are in the bible belt after all) and dressing in her floral tea dress and cardie. Perhaps in another
film she would had hit the bottle or at least screamed her lungs out at the
loss of her child but she’s not given room to lose it here. Dad (Thomas Hayden
Church) is the salt of the earth, hardworking veteran, hammering home the
patriotism with a 4th of July parade march through town. No wonder
Justin is surly and escapes into his computer games. He’s not living with real
people. A scene in which Justin’s father confronts him with a truth about his
own wartime experience is forced and suffocating in its execution.
As Justin, Josh Wiggins (Hellion)
does a nice job especially in his scenes with Max but a side bar plot about him
providing pirated video games to friends is thrown in and disappears almost as
quick. The real draw here is Max himself who will pull your heart strings with
his loyalty and bravery to save the day. Kids will love him so expect demands for a dog just like him on the way home.
