Synopsis
A dog that helped soldiers in Afghanistan returns to the U.S. and is adopted by his handler's family after suffering a traumatic experience.
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Cast
- Thomas Haden ChurchRay
- Josh WigginsJustin
- Lauren GrahamPamela
- Robbie AmellKyle Wincott
- Mia XitlaliCarmen
- Luke KleintankTyler Harne
- Jay HernandezSergeant Reyes
- J. J. SoriaEmilio
- Zeeko ZakiAfghan Interpreter
- Edgar ArreolaCartel leader
Recommendations
- 63
Movie Nation
The heart of Max is a boy learning about an always faithful dog, and as sentimental and manipulative as their bonding moments are, that’s what works. - 63
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
When the movie morphs from a story of mutual healing into a crime-fighting caper, it goes off track. - 50
Screen Daily
Max is a genial if somewhat old-fashioned tale that’s too clunky to transcend its genre(s) but effective enough within its own limited emotional range. - 45
TheWrap
None of these plot points are run through with any thoughtfulness or panache. Despite a great, unaffected performance by Wiggins — the only one among the cast — and the primal joy of seeing the dog actors sprinting, leaping and maybe even emoting, the film is sunk because the characters never transcend their seeming origins in a Disney Channel movie project. - 42
The A.V. Club
It is dull and weird — weird in that way that it is pronounced we-ee-eird, the stretched vowel signaling a weirdness that is probably unconscious on the part of the filmmakers. - 40
Variety
It’s too bad the film doesn’t provide a better sense of what makes the Belgian Malinois so uniquely suited to the battlefield, or find a way to pay more than lip service to the deep bonds developed between military men and animals. - 40
The Hollywood Reporter
The screenplay muddles its emotional core with a clunky cross between old-fashioned Hardy Boys mystery and a far-fetched weapons-trafficking subplot. - 40
The Dissolve
There’s a touching story here about a boy getting over his grief and narcissism by nursing a dog through its own set of traumas, but Max is far too gung-ho about playing up the pup’s heroism and self-sacrifice to give it much time to develop.
