Review of Megan Leavey (2017) by John M — 21 Sep 2017

Kleenex wanted. Based on a true story, this is about a girl in the marines named Megan (Kate Mara). She is trying to find her place, and she ends up trying to get in the canine division for bomb detection.

When she finally gets her dog, a German Shepard named Rex, they get deployed to Iraq. This is the story about their partnership. I have no hesitation in making a claim right off the bat: if you own a dog or even simply consider yourself to be a dog lover, this is a surefire bet to get an extra layer of investment out of you.

As you may already know, I have a giant Chocolate Labrador in my household, so let me tell you: I was enthralled by this movie from start to finish. Now besides already having captured my interest as an animal lover, this also caught my eye because this is from Gabriela Cowperthwaite, the director of the terrific documentary Blackfish (which I HIGHLY recommend).

This is her first time directing a narrative story, and while I don't think it is seamless transition, I do think it is a worthy first time effort. You know that this is going to be emotional off the bat just given the subject matter, and it really does a good job of pulling you into the story.

Megan disassociates herself from everyone, so you can see why she got involved in the military in the first place, and when she first meets Rex, it's almost like it's a buddy cop movie. They have a rocky introduction, and Rex wants nothing to do with her.

Of course they get past that, and that ends up being the strongest element of the story: the bond that they share. It is real on screen, and I'm sure it was real in the true life story. My biggest problem has nothing to do with the movie itself, it is with how this was marketed.

The trailer gives away more I typically like to see going into a movie, and I do feel like it undercut tension. I do think that the storytelling is pretty standard with fairly traditional techniques, although I don't think that this is a bad thing; it gets the job done, there's just not a ton of flair in this.

I like the animal acting and people acting. Common is good, although he breaks character sometimes, and this was the first time I have ever seen Tom Felton and haven't immediately thought about Malfoy.

Mara is great in the emotional role, and I recommend film to anybody who thinks they can stomach it, as this is not a cutesy dog movie.