Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!: Max (2015) - Marine hero dog makes Yakin's drama worthwhile

9/16/2020

Max (2015) - Marine hero dog makes Yakin's drama worthwhile

♥♥♥

+ Best Dog Movie of the Year

The Malinois star looks attentive and calm in a scene of unrest on this poster for Boaz Yakin's Max

When teenager Justin's marine big brother gets killed on duty in Afghanistan, his war-traumatized Malinois service dog Max comes home and gets taken in by Justin, who learns the truth about his brother from the steadfast Max.

Max is written by Sheldon Lettich (Rambo III (1988)) and co-writer/director Boaz Yakin (Fresh (1994)).
The film runs with a good story and a noble mission of honoring the over-looked, four-legged heroes of war, which is what propels Max upwards. The dog Carlos who plays Max is fantastic, and dog-lovers everywhere are bound to fall for this modern Lassie-type hero dog. The human stars, on the other hand, are so-so:
The mother character isn't up to much, and Thomas Haden Church (Ned and Stacey (1995-17)) is sometimes wooden in his acting as the father. Justin's two Mexican-American friends are acted with charm. And Justin is also acted well by Josh Wiggins (The Bachelors (2017)), but he regrettably botches the final scene by the gravestone.
Overall there's still more to like than dislike about this edifying, fine dog movie.

Related posts:

Boaz Yakin: 2015 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED IV]

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2010) - Newell straddles too much in fair action-adventure (co-writer)
From Dusk Till Dawn 2: Texas Blood Money (1999) - Spiegel's vampire heist disappoints (story elements)

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 20 mil. $
Box office: 43.9 mil. $
= Flop (returned 2.19 times its cost)
[Max was released 25 June (Philippines) and runs 111 minutes. Shooting took place in North Caroline, including Charlotte. The film opened #4, behind holdover hits Jurassic World and Inside Out and fellow new release Ted 2, to a 12.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd week and grossed 42.6 mil. $ (97 % of the total gross). The tiny international gross of around 1.3 mil. $ is not fully illuminated at the film's Box Office Mojo site. Yakin returned with Boarding School (2018). Carlos the dog returned in the film's sequel Max 2: White House Hero (2017). Max is rotten at 38 % with a 4.82/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Max?

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Donald Sutherland has passed away

Born in Canada, Sutherland battled polio as a child. His first credit was in Suspense (1963, TV-series) and his first film was The Castle of the Living Dead (1964). Later credits in his remarkable career include The Saint (1965-66), The Dirty Dozen (1967), M*A*S*H (1970), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Klute (1971), Don't Look Now (1973), 1900 (1976), Casanova (1976), The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Ordinary People (1980), A Dry White Season (1989), JFK (1991), Outbreak (1995), Fallen (1998), Virus (1999), Fierce People (2005), Pride & Prejudice (2005), Lord of War (2005), The Hunger Games (2012), The Undoing (2020, miniseries) and many more. He passed away at age 88. R.I.P.

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Born in Detroit, Michigan, Corman had a sprawling, intellectually hungry life as a youth and young man before arriving with his first film in 1955, Five Guns West. He would follow that with titles such as Apache Woman, It Conquered the World, Attack of the Crab Monsters, Teenage Cave Man, A Bucket of Blood, House of Usher, The Little Shop of Horrors, The Pit and the Pendulum, The Intruder, The Raven, The Terror, The Masque of Red Death, The Tomb of Ligeia, The Wild Angels, The Trip, Bloody Mama and many more. As a producer he was behind almost 500 films. Arguably among the most important filmmakers of the 20th century, Corman passed away at age 98. R.I.P.

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Jean-Luc Godard has passed away

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Philip Baker Hall has died

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Film Excess - Free Ukraine - Stop Putin - End the war NOW!!

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9/16/2020

Max (2015) - Marine hero dog makes Yakin's drama worthwhile

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