Max is American Sniper reimagined through the eyes of a dog
The movies director and screenwriter, Boaz Yakin, has said that he wanted to make a film about military working dogs (MWDs), their role in the recent wars America has waged, and the impact of those wars on the dogs. And for about 15 percent of the film, thats what we see. Due to an incident in Kandahar that involves heavy gunfire and results in Kyles death, Max is scared of fireworks and loud noises, and distrusts people. Theres even a powerful (and manipulative) moment where Max howls at Kyles casket, pawing helplessly for his late master.
But despite the multiple pieces of YouTube evidence that millions of people will watch anything involving dogs and war veterans, Yakin wasnt satisfied with Max being just a dog movie. And thats the films biggest problem. Yakin could have created a touching tribute to MWDs, but he ultimately loses that thread in a blaze of fearmongering glory.
The tale that Yakin and fellow screenwriter Sheldon Lettich spin resembles the work of someone who was deeply upset by the tragic ending of American Sniper and reimagined the Bradley Cooper film in a world where the “good guys” win. Yakin isnt content to restrict his star to fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan, so he plunks an orphaned Max down near the Texas-Mexico border. In those suburban streets and bucolic forests, an unnamed Mexican drug cartel has bent the minds of the towns most respected individuals in order to obtain military-grade weapons smuggled in from raids on Taliban outposts — and somehow, this all connects back to Max.
The idea that a hyperviolent Mexican drug cartel needs weapons specifically from Afghanistan is a tremendous leap of logic, almost as tremendous as Lauren Grahams “Texan” accent. But it serves to illustrate a simple point: Max is the one that must save this Texas town from an influx of scary brown people, despite every adult male in this movie possessing a firearm.
Max then becomes a bizarrely political screed, with Yakin lacing in jabs at anyone — particularly liberals and non-Texans — who identifies as anti-war. The film is obsessed with the idea that “good” means following orders, and the unshakable belief that America has its citizens best interest in mind. There is no middle ground, no place where a bad war and good soldiers can co-exist. War cynics like Justin become the films ungrateful villains.
For example, in the first half of the movie, Justin is a caustic little gremlin clad in a “Murica” T-shirt who bemoans Kyle and the Afghanistan War while playing video games. Justins insolence is contrasted with his brothers heroics — the angry adolescent versus the virtuous soldier making Skype calls to his family from Kandahar.
“Im a realist,” the films big bad (whose identity I wont spoil) says toward the end of the movie, while explaining why he thinks the wars in the Middle East are Americas way of sending its blue-collar workers to fight on behalf of defense contracts.
That the film deliberately chooses to present its villain as a “realist” instead of an “opportunist” is telling. Coupled with Justins initial anti-war sentiments (before Max teaches him to believe otherwise), it paints realism as the enemy, thereby making the good guys the ones who will trust the US government no matter what. Idealists are the heroes in this story, and there is no room for an idealist who believes the wars in the Middle East were a mistake.
Max, despite his Belgian roots, is a good American. He can sniff out the bad guys, but once he makes his home in Texas hes surrounded by hardheaded and sometimes evil “realists” who discredit or refuse to listen to him. Yakins injection of politics into Max is exhausting, and by the end of the film, I was left feeling winded and ultimately wondering where cats fit into this world.
Audiences generally dont like to see dogs die in movies. And if a dog is going to die — whether its in Marley and Me or All Dogs go to Heaven — many people want to know about it going in.
SPOILER ALERT:
The films creative team is fully aware of this apprehension, and frequently engages in dog death brinkmanship. As I mentioned above, there are multiple instances in which someone pulls a gun on Max, but being shot isnt the only threat he faces during the movies 111 minutes. Hes also bombed in Afghanistan, bitten by a Rottweiler, almost put to death twice (once by the pound and once by the Army), falls off the side of a rural Texas cliff, is threatened by a neighbor, and gets jammed into multiple cages along the way.
Maxs death never feels too far away, which yields plenty of dramatic tension. But this tension also begins to feel manipulative by the second time someone threatens Max with a gun. The moments in which his life is threatened become cheap ways to snap you out of your daydream, to get you to care about whats happening on screen not because its particularly important, but because its supposed to be shocking.
Lost in this shuffle of bullets and narrow misses is Yakins stated goal of telling a story about the great service that military dogs provide, how devoted they can be, and how violence affects them, too. Im not sure where that film went, but the bizarre, violent mess I saw isnt it.
What kind of dog is Max in pets 2?
Patton Oswalt as Max: a Jack Russell Terrier.
Is Max a real dog in the Grinch?
The breed of Max from the 2000 live action movie How The Grinch Stole Christmas is a mutt – the dog who plays Max alongside Jim Carrey as The Grinch was actually adopted from a shelter! The pup-actress’s name is Kelley.
For 12 Years, Dog’s Trained As Professional Assassin & Avenges His Owner’s Death
You’re probably going to see a lot of comparisons between Allison Janney’s role as Lou in the new Netflix movie Lou and John Wick. Not only is Janney a serious badass in the film, but she’s also very attached to her adorable dog Jax. However, we all know the dog doesn’t make it out alive of John Wick. Does the dog in Lou die?
Lou is a mysterious loner, happy to live a quiet life with her dog. But all of that changes when her neighbor, Hannah (Jurnee Smollett), comes begging for help after her daughter gets kidnapped in the middle of a horrible storm. Lou and Hannah must put aside their differences to try and find the little girl before it’s too late.