Touches You

Load of rubbish!!

As Good As It Gets

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Let's all say it together: WTF.Seriously, this film was such a let-down. It had a really good premise, but the writers must have got lost in a tale of Lassie half-way. It became ludicrous, unbelievable, and worse- CORNY. Like, badly corny. Cringey, even. Highlighting the beautiful work of war dogs is admirable, but so sad to see it completely misrepresented in this way. By far the dog was the best actor, and by far the best scene was the dog's origin story.//SPOILER ALERT// So, the military have a funeral for Kyle (which, was honestly quite heartfelt to watch), and then they release the "possible aggressive" war dog with PTSD into the care of the family? Err, that's not real. Then the family (who were not at all briefed on PTSD in dogs) put him in the backyard tethered and caged and alone - hmmm. Dog abuse? Apart from some fireworks (which scare all dogs by the way), Max seems perfectly fine to bound around like a happy young thing. Then when the shady bits take place, I wonder why do kids, with mobile phones and connections with the army, not call the military police or federal police to report a crime? Since when do bad guys not gag a hostage? And do bad guys really chase after dogs and kids instead of securing their gun deals? Like, really?? If the police were in on the whole gun deal, then why not explore that deeper? OK, so it's a kids film, I hear you say- but if it's a kid's film, it needs to be completely PG and silly. Yet the topic is REAL. The topic is meaningful. The topic of this film is meant to be about a war dog whose handler was in killed in action. That is a heavy tale to tell. If this film is about the dogs, and as the end of the film said, "in memory of the dogs who served", then why introduce the shady gun deal? And worse still- Why kill the bad marine dude? Yeh, he's bad, but he didn't deserve to die. He deserved military court. Kids movies need to stop putting in falseness, especially when you're talking about the war- a war currently taking place. OMG, how do you expect kids will understand this film? Tell the truth, join the marines, chase men with guns, all bad guys die (even those on our side who make bad decisions) - yikes. A bit rigid, eh? 2 stars.

Fans of Lassie and Rin Tin Tin will undoubtedly find much to celebrate in "Max," an old-fashioned a-boy-and-his-dog story updated to reflect our post-9/11 age.The boy in this instance is Justin (Josh Wiggins), a disgruntled teen whose older brother, Kyle (Robbie Amell), a Marine who trains dogs to sniff out weapon caches on the field of battle, is killed in Afghanistan. After Kyle's dog, Max, develops a sort of canine version of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, the dead man's family dutifully rescues him, assigning Justin the unenviable task of rehabilitating him back to the point where he can interact with humans again without instinctively wanting to rip their throats out. This Justin does with the help of his new friend, Carmen (the charming Mia Xitlali), who knows a thing or two about training challenging dogs.In addition to his canine-raising duties, Justin has to contend with his tough-as-nails military dad (Thomas Haden Church) and his own innate laziness and cynicism. But with the help of Max, a devoted and kindly mother (Lauren Graham), and the love of a new girlfriend, Justin eventually grows into his manhood, demonstrating that rehabilitation is often a two-way street.There are any number of touching moments in the screenplay by Sheldon Lettich and co-writer/director Boaz Yakin, which, happily, manages to keep the unavoidable suds down to a minimum. However, even the fine performances (especially by Wiggins) can't overcome an utterly preposterous subplot involving Justin's entanglement with a local gun-running cartel, a storyline that not only comes to dominate the second half of the movie but may make the movie itself somewhat less than appropriate for the youngest members of its intended audience.Ah well, at least the canine stunt work - kudos to both Max and his trainer on that score - is super impressive throughout.

This movie reminds us of the contribution dogs have made to the military effort & still do. Like the canines that assist local law enforcement, military canines provide an invaluable service. This movie about one such dog - Max - is well made and acted. The story centers on the bonding between one teenager & Max. Max has been traumatized by the war & the teenager played by Josh Wiggins has his own set of problems - together they come through it together. This movie might be too intense for younger audience but should appeal to teenagers. There is even a sub plot involving a coming of age romance. The parents played by Church & Graham are alternately strong & nurturing.

Fifteen minutes into it and I was almost bawling my eyes out especially at the scene where Max was at Kyle's funeral, but that's because I have a dog myself and couldn't bear the idea of separation between a man and his best friend. Who knew that was the best part. Everything else just became cornier and clichéd. The film revolved around the poor life choices of a teenage-angst kid paired with a fresh-out-of-school acting. At least, it was all bearable. A little bit entertaining bu with the constant sighs at the turn of events. If you have kids, this would have been a nice film to watch with them.