oluwolebankole I enjoyed the story this movie was trying to tell but I'm not sure why the makers felt the need to use sexuality in a pg movie. The open mouth kiss between two tweens didn't seem to add anything to the value of the movie, and did not seem appropriate for the target audience or the young actors for that matter. That aside, Hats off to our men and women in uniform, and their loyalty thru not only physically trying times, but also thru the many tempting times and difficult decisions they must face every day in battle. As far as pace, I felt the Movie was a little slow in parts. It picked up towards the middle/end though. They also did a great job keeping gore off the screen considering the movie was about war. Max's performance was stellar, I had to check myself during a dog fight scene or two because while rooting for the lead, I kept imagining ASPCA coming to my door. Not sure how they pulled those off but it was clever. All in all, great story line, slow pace to start but worth the patience to soak in the story, moral, and great dog acting.

davidjanuzbrown I am a big fan of 'Max." Not only because it does not have a lot of unnecessary sex and bad language (I say unnecessary because there are movies that do), but it is not a straightforward Hallmark type movie. First and foremost it is relationship movie about a very damaged family (The Wincott's) over the death of oldest son Kyle (who was a dog trainer) in combat. You have "By The Book" Marine Father Ray (Thomas Hayden Church), his wife Pam (Lauren Graham), and son Justin (Josh Wiggins). They are given the Belgian Malinois named Max who he trained, You first see the dog, at Kyle's funeral when he goes up to Justin (he knew he was connected to Kyle). Later on, you are introduced to Justin's best friend Chuy (Dejon LaQuake and his cousin on his mother's side Carmen (Mia Xitlali), who was kicked out of the home by her father because she had a tattoo and did not dress correctly. He also had another Cousin Emilio who was a drug dealer (his father's side) , and last but not least Tyler who served with Kyle.Spoilers Ahead: Carmen is the one who teaches Justin about 'Max' and how to properly care for him, and he learns to love 'Max' and does stuff like sleep in is cage with him, when the dog is frightened because of fireworks. He also prevents his father from killing him because he believes 'Max' is responsible for his son's death. As it turned out Emilio and Tyler were selling guns to the Mexican Cartel, and they kidnap Ray and 'Max' ends up saving him, and then Justin when Tyler was going to kill him. What is really interesting is the ending where everything is not tied up in a neat bow: There are still issues between Justin and his dad (but he does let 'Max' live in the home with them), and Chuy is reluctant to admit Emilio did anything wrong and belongs in jail and says "The family will be in trouble." In addition to Max, Carmen is the most interesting character. She develops a relationship with Justin so that she will become his girlfriend and I suspect eventually a much deeper relationship. Besides teaching him about dogs, she teaches him about life "About not letting others disrespect your father." (despite him kicking her out of the home, so she had to sleep on the couch at Chuy's family's). You also see how 'Max' protects her from 'Choy' when he gets in her face (She was treated as one of the family by 'Max'), and how she is wearing a dress (something that she not only refused to do at home, but Emilio got on her for, and she gives it to Choy for letting him disrespect her. She never forgot who she was and where she came from, These quotes say what she is about. "Mexican's are not a race" she said to Choy when he made that statement, and when she calmly said her father and brother train stray put bulls after Ray asked if they are trained to fight. I strongly suspect that due to economics she will be moving into the Wincott home soon enough (probably by Pam who likes her (you see the reaction she has when Justin is walking 'Max' earlier in the movie and he gives Carmen the credit). Basically I love this movie. 10/10 Stars

leonblackwood Review: For a movie about a dog, I actually quite enjoyed it! I wasn't expecting deceptive gun runners and dog fights in the film and the emotional content did touch me, so I must admit, it was a joy to watch. It's about a US Marine, Kyle Wincott (Robbie Amell), who handles a dog, Max in Afghanistan. Max guides Kyles squad towards some hidden weapons but when the artillery goes missing, Kyle is questioned by his superior officers. Kyle soon realises that his close friend, Tyler Harne (Luke Kleintank), is involved in the missing weapons and he warns him that he's not going to cover for him again. Whilst on the battlefield, Max heads the squad toward a suicide bomber were Max gets injured and Kyle get shot and killed during a gun battle. Kyle's younger brother, Justin (Josh Wiggins), who makes money from pirating video games and his father, Ray (Thomas Haden Church) and mother Pamela (Lauren Graham), are informed about Kyle's death and during the burial, the US marines bring in Max to say goodbye to Kyle. Since the shooting in Afghanistan, Max has become uncontrollable but everyone can see that he is calm around Justin, because he can sense that he's Kyle's brother. As Max is due to be put down, the family agree to adopt him, as long as Justin takes control of him and they soon become best friends, with the help of his best friends cousin Carmen (Mia Xitlali). Tyler then visits the Wincotts and Max goes to attack him, because he knows of his dodgy gun dealings. Tyler then tells Ray that Kyle died because Max turned against.him so Justin goes to his fellow officer to investigate his brothers death. Justin is given a DVD to prove that Max wouldn't have turned on Kyle and while he is watching the film with Carmen and his best friend Chuy's, he is brought to tears and convinced that Tyler is lying. When they finish watching the DVD, Justin is approached by Chuy's other cousin, Emilio, whose a cartel member, about the pirate video games and they follow him into the woods and witness a arms deal with a police officer and Tyler. The police officers dogs can sense Max is nearby so they chase after him and Justin tries to flee the scene, leaving his bike behind. After Max fights of the police offers dogs, badly wounding one of them, they head home after hitchhiking a lift and when the police officer finds his bike, he goes to Justin house with Tyler and demands Max to be put down. Max manages to escape the pound and heads back to Justin house while Ray is held hostage because he has caught Tyler making an arms deal with the cartel. Max then leads Justin, Chuy and Carmen to Ray whereabouts and they manage to rescue Ray, after fighting of Emilio and the police officer. Tyler then comes face to face with Justin on a damaged bridge but he's attacked by Max, which kills Tyler and badly damages Max. After the whole dramatic incident, Max and Justin visit his brothers grave and the Wincotts adopt Max again. A sweet ending to a dramatic movie! The dog was brilliant throughout the movie and the emotional scenes at the funeral were brilliant. I would have liked to have seen some more footage of Max in Afghanistan with Kyle but apart from that, it's a decent film with enough elements to keep it interesting throughout. The dog is the real star of the movie but everyone puts in a good performance, which made the movie, surprisingly, a good watch. Enjoyable!Round-Up: This movie was directed by Boaz Yakin, who also brought you Fresh in 1994, A Price Above Rubies with Renee Zellweger, Remember The Titans, Uptown Girls, Death in Love and Safe with Jason Statham. He's had a versatile career to date and he has worked with some big stars but taking on a movie with a dog must have been a big project, so I have to give him credit for that. He also put a lot of effort into the script, which I found quite entertaining, so for a family drama, this movie gets the thumbs up from me.Budget: $20million Worldwide Gross: $44millionI recommend this movie to people who are into their family/adventure movies starring Thomas Haden Church, Josh Wiggins, Luke Kleintank and Lauren Graham. 6/10

Bob Rutzel Ray Wincott (Thomas Hayden Church) and family decide to take care of a very troubled Max, the canine war dog of their son, Kyle (Robbie Amell) who was killed in Afghanistan. Max takes an instant liking to Kyle's brother Justin (Josh Wiggins), who wants nothing to do with the dog. In time Justin will learn more about life and responsibility. This is not a true story but it is dedicated to the memory of 26 Handlers and 25 dogs killed since 2003 as a statement at the end will confirm. This will give all of us more of an appreciation of what these trainers and handlers do to get the dogs to perform the way they do. There will be some moments you will need a box of Kleenex nearby.Tyler (Luke Kleintank) was a soldier in arms with Kyle and visits the family. When Max sees Tyler, the dog becomes highly agitated. Later we will learn why. Justin discovers that Tyler is involved in gun running for a Mexican crime outfit. Tyler warns Justin to keep his mouth shut, and Justin knows his family will be in danger if he says anything. When Ray is kidnapped everything changes. The dog fights seem too real when Max goes against some Pitt Bulls.The photography and editing for the chases in the woods on bicycles is spot on. The dog in here is amazing and is so smart you almost expect him to talk. (7/10)Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: No.