MAX
Warner Bros
Reviewed by: Harvey Karten for Shockya. Databased on Rotten Tomatoes.
Grade: B
Director: Boaz Yakin
Screenwriter:  Boaz Yakin, Sheldon Lettich
Cast:  Josh Wiggins, Robbie Amell, Lauren Graham, Thomas Haden Church
Screened at: Warner, NYC, 6/16/15
Opens:  June 26, 2015

In much the way movies that would be rated “R” forty years ago are now given MPAA judgments of “PG-13,” what was considered “PG-13” then is now simply “PG.”  This phenomenon is brought out by Boaz Yakin’s “Max,” about a boy and a dog, but not the Disney-esque sentimental pap in which nothing really sad occurs. Instead it’s full of explosions, gunplay, violent death, and assorted scares.  Kids today, perhaps the prime audience for “Max,” could be troubled by some aspects of the movie, but ultimately they will acquire a real-life, vicarious experience involving the death of a 14-year-old boy’s brother (shown graphically in a scene from Afghanistan) and the violence involving gun smugglers, one of whom violates the Marine code of behavior by being involved in the theft and sale of AK-47’s and a bazooka.

The movie stars Josh Wiggins in the role of Justin Wincott, an actor who last appeared in “Hellion”  about a heavy metal obsessed 13-year-old delinquent) and “Lost in the Sun,” about a newly-orphaned teen who bonds with a small-time crook.
In “Max” Wiggins’s character opens as a kid who could possibly turn bad.  He is already distanced from his mom, Pamela Wincott (Lauren Graham) and dad Ray Wincott (Robbie Arnell), but in the tradition of Warner Bros. pictures targeted to youth becomes a good kid thanks to his friendship with a Belgian Malinois.  The 14-year-olds redemption is old hat, but the story has some earned, tearful moments, and the transformation occurs through organically developed plotting.

Boaz Yakin, who directs and co-wrote the movie, is known for his most recent “Safe,” about a girl with a numerical code buried in her head who is pursued by a Russian mob and corrupt New York City cops. Yakin is no stranger to tales of crime, exploiting his talent in developing a story about a 14-year-old with intimate knowledge of a small gang of gun smugglers, pursued not only by men who would like to see him dead but by a person he considered a pal who thinks twice and three times before shooting the otherwise bland lad.

The film opens in Afghanistan as Raymond and Pamela’s 20-something boy Kyle Wincott (Robbie Arnell), a dog handler whose Belgian Malinois Max (played by one Carlos), is trained to search for guns which the local people are selling to the Taliban.  In a firefight he is killed, the death reported in the usual Marine style by a pair of officers’ trip to the young man’s parents, who decide to adopt the dog that was loved so much by their deceased son.  At first the angry Justin wants nothing to do with the animal but with the encouragement of the tough-talking teen Carmen (Mia Xitlali), a cousin of Justin’s best friend Chuy (Dejon LaQuek). Tyler Harne (Luke Kleintank), a Marine who fought in the same outfit as Kyle, befriends the boy, gets a job from Justin’s dad, but is not quite what he claims to be.

Carlos in the role of Max is not only a war hero but a catalyst for the redemption of the alienated young Justin.  But Carlos is a big dog and therefore cannot evoke the same tender emotions from an audience as small terriers like Dale Rosenbloom’s Shiloh, an abused beagle rescued by the 1996 movie’s heroes, or like Greyfriar’s Bobby, the wee terrier who, after his owner’s death guarded the man’s grave for years until his own demise.  Rather, “Max” comes across as adult fare suitable for kids who will not become too upset by a rogue Marine or too irritated by a bratty best friend of Justin who gets hit every so often by his cousin, Carmen.  Josh Wiggins holds the movie together as a whitebread fellow who comes of age, as they say, after the death of his older brother.

Rated PG.  111 minutes.  © Harvey Karten, Member, New York Film Critics Online

Story – B
Acting – B
Technical – B
Overall – B