Josh Wiggins and Carlos share a special bond in Max.

Max (2015)
Certified: 12A
Duration: 110 minutes
Directed by: Boaz Yakin
Starring: Josh Wiggins, Dejon LaQuake, Thomas Haden Church, Robbie Amell, Lauren Graham, Luke Kleintank, Jay Hernandez, Miles Mussenden, Mia Xitlali, Owen Harn, Joseph Julian Soria, Carlos
KRS Releasing Ltd

Texan teenager Justin (Josh Wiggins) is at a constant crossroads with his parents, Ray and Pam (Thomas Haden Church and Lauren Graham). He also feels that his brother Kyle (Robbie Amell) who is older than him only joined the Marines in order to live up to what was expected from him.

Justin’s life seems to revolve around playing video games or making copies to sell them to Emilio (Joseph Julian Soria). Emilio is quite the shady character but he is also cousin to Chuy (Delon La Quake) who is Justin’s best friend.

Kyle, on the other hand, is in Afghanistan on a tour of duty. Alongside him is his friend Tyler (Luke Kleintank). Their most trusted ally is Max (Carlos), a Belgian Malinois that has been trained by the military to alert the troops of any danger.

Kyle ends up in a deadly attack and is killed, which leads to Max enduring the canine equivalent for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Pam and Ray decide to bring Max into the family. Strangely enough, the dog ends up being the sole contact – and the only one capable of forming a special bond – with Justin. Young Carmen (Mia Xitlali) helps Justin to get through to Max.

Tyler returns home and starts working for Ray. He also spreads the lie that Max had been the one that caused Kyle’s death. However, Tyler has a secret agenda of his own as he is smuggling weapons and allies himself with Emilio and Deputy Stack (Owen Harn) to sell and distribute the weapons.

Justin will soon start to realise the truth and finds that, while he has Max’s life in his hands due to the lies told about him, he also has to face danger in order to set things straight.

As a kid I wanted nothing more than a black stallion, like the one from the TV series Fury (Furia – Cavallo del West as shown on Italian TV) and a collie like Lassie.

Max takes the theme and structure of a dozen Lassie episodes and updates them to modern times. It is also a highly-tinged patriotic picture that makes it quite a throwback of a movie.

What I enjoyed most is that special effects and computer-generated imagery are kept at a minimum, so the focus is on the canine hero and his connection with the teenage one. It is here that Max excels as Wiggins and Carlos actually seem to have a real-life connection. Inevitably enough, it is not very difficult for them to get the audience behind them as they jump from one life-threatening situation to another.

What’s vastly different from other similar pictures are the problems the teenager and the dog face. In the films of the past, it would have been enough for Lassie to save a boy from a well or to find someone who is lost.

This time around it is weapon smuggling, military operations and corrupt officials. It seems that the world has changed and in our mind frame it has become an edgier and more dangerous place.

Despite the raising of the ante, the film still maintains that emotional connection that keeps it going at a steadfast and sure rate and making it seem to be very personal.

Max is a breed of a film that is both a throwback and yet something different in today’s market which makes its pedigree quite unique.