Megan Leavey

This is a movie based on a real life person. Someone might characterize this movie as a biopic but deep down it's just a story about overcoming obstacles as well as achieving personal bliss and happiness. Which is the most important part of our lives and we tend to appreciate it the more we age.

Megan Leavey, struggling to find her purpose in life (sadly, as we all know this is still a very well-known and relevant struggle for the newer generations) decides to join the US Marines and is fated to find the best friend she has ever had in her whole life.

With some past trauma affecting her life, Megan takes a leap of faith and bets her life on the lifestyle and strict rules of the US Marines. With the hope of climbing out of the big hole she's dug she encounters the animal that will save her life: A dog. A dog that taught her more about life's real treasures. Of love and deep affection for others. Of being there for him no matter what. The lengths Megan takes herself in order to be with Rex is simply inspiring. Her dedication to this dog, as one particular character says in the movie, is "admirable".

Kate Mara was a good choice for the part of Megan Leavey. Her calmness, awkwardness and dry humor keeps us engaged and rooting for her. Of course there are also the men in this movie. Ramón Rodríguez playing the stoic and funny and also the "friend-boyfriend" of Megan, also sells quite well. Last but not least, Tom Felton's appearance as Sergeant Andrew Dean was a surprise, to say the least. His American accent is a whole lot better than the accents of many British actors that tend to play American characters nowadays. On the other hand, you can feel the cringe-ness in many scenes (the script isn't the greatest and sometimes Mara's deliveries are a bit off) but the ending makes those moments worthwhile.

It's been almost 10 years since this movie hit the theaters and we haven't gotten a similar one. We might never will, for many more years to come. A respectable movie about a woman joining a military force is not done frequently. Still, it doesn't mean that what the movie showed us is necessarily the reality of the many women who join these types of institutions in real life. Regardless of whether or not the story was rooted in reality or even depicted the real life story of the real Megan Leavey well, we can't argue that this is a well-made movie with a good cast and has a good and inspiring story attached to it.

"Megan Leavey" (PG-13, 1:56) is technically a bio-pic about a U.S. Marine serving as an MP during the Iraq War, but what it's really about is that Marine's relationship with her partner, a military working dog named Rex. Throughout history, militaries, such as the Egyptians, Greeks, Persians, Britons, Romans and Americans, used canines in a variety of roles, such as in combat as attack dogs, and as hunters, trackers, searchers, scouts, guards, sentries, messengers, mascots and therapy dogs. Military working dogs in K9 units are assigned a specific handler, with whom the dog bonds, trains, serves and, when necessary, protects. The special relationship between such dogs and their handlers has been portrayed in various forms in movies like 2017's "A Dog's Purpose" and 2015's "Max", which mirrors the real-life story of a dog named Lex, who went to live with the family of his handler after the handler was killed in Iraq. An increasing number of military working dogs are adopted by their handlers after the military deems the dogs' military service complete and retires the dog from active duty, but it hasn't always been that way. "Megan Leavey" is the true story of a U.S. Marine's bond with her dog and her long fight to adopt him.

Megan (Kate Mara) was drifting. After high school, she had no purpose in life. She lived with her mother (Edie Falco) and stepfather (Will Patton), but didn't actually do much of anything, especially after her best friend died from a drug overdose. Seemingly on a whim, Megan joins the Marine Corps. After she completes basic training, she is trained as an MP, but her lack of self-discipline is still a problem and she quickly gets in trouble with her commander. Her punishment (or "corrective training", as the military calls it) is to work for a hard-nosed Marine called Gunny Martin (Common), cleaning out the kennels of the military working dogs. Megan develops an interest in the K9 unit, but she has to convince Gunny Martin of her reliability and dedication, so she is given an ammo can attached to a rope which she is forced to pretend is a dog on a leash that she puts through its paces on a K9 training course. When a handler preparing for deployment is bitten by his dog, Private First Class Leavey is ordered to step in.

With little time left before that scheduled deployment to Iraq, Megan works hard to train up, complete Rex's training and bond with her new partner. Rex is known as a very difficult and aggressive dog, but Megan manages to tame the savage beast and they end up making an effective and respected team while serving in combat. Megan and Rex are called upon to patrol ahead of everyone else in an effort to find IEDs before they can harm American troops. After some success, Megan and Rex get separated. She begins to work tirelessly to find Rex and, ultimately, to get permission to adopt and care for him. In the midst of all this, Megan works through challenging relationships with Gunny Martin, a K9 unit mentor (Tom Felton), a flirty fellow dog handler (Ramon Rodriguez), her clueless mother and stepfather and her birth father (Bradley Whitford), but all the while, Megan's biggest concern is her relationship with Rex.

"Megan Leavey" is a solid and touching, but slight movie. The script by Pamela Gray ("A Walk on the Moon"), Oscar nominee Annie Mumolo ("Bridesmaids") and Tim Lovestedt (co-writing his first film), and the direction of Gabriela Cowperthwaite ("Blackfish"), give us a realistic look at military life and combat deployments, while keeping the focus mainly on the affecting relationship between Megan and Rex. The subplots of Megan's human relationships give us a good picture of who she is as a person and are well-balanced from a story-telling perspective. But in the final analysis, this is still "just" a story about one Marine and one dog, presented as if similar situations had not happened before or since (which they have). The writing, acting and directing are all strong and produce a film which many Movie Fans will appreciate, especially those interested in military life and those who love four-footed heroes. "B"

I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Allowing Military dogs to retire with their trainer, especially when such a bond has formed, is something many have fought for. If you haven't seen Dog yet, you'll enjoy that film, too. I wasn't aware of Leavey's story before and I'm glad I stumbled upon this gem. And be warned, there is some very realistic Iraq scenes. But I wonder why Mara was cast as Leavey with a full 12 inch difference between the actress and the real thing. It feels very sexist. And honestly, I initially thought it was the same actress that plays Starlight in The Boys, which really threw me.

I know a few military dogs and I happen to know they can drag you through a car wash without batting an eye. There's no way someone 5'2, 110 lbs would have been given an 85 lb out of control German Shepherd. That part of the film is so unbelievable unless you know that Leavey is actually 6'2 and probably more like 175 lbs. I also find it extremely difficult to believe that someone training to be a handler would have to learn literally in the field that you can not reveal the name of your dog to the locals -- it's one of the well-known ways insurgents attempt to kill or capture a bomb-sniffing dog. True Marine training is very precise and focused -- are they saying these jokers forgot to tell her or that she was too preoccupied to pay attention? There's a lot we won't know for sure, but even the Army has that on a check-list, not an afterthought in the field.

I like that the film really focused on that relationship but felt a little cheated that we didn't get a sense of the passage of time. She goes from Boot to Corporal without any mention, and the film acts as though she fell off the recruit bus and started cleaning stalls. Actually, she completed 2 trainings before choosing to go to the K9 training camp, and the bombing took place on their 2nd tour in Iraq.

I also dislike that the film calls the dog 'real sick' when he simply had some facial numbness, apparently from his injuries from the bomb, that prevented him from continuing to serve in the Military. However, a little research reveals that once Megan adopted Rex, they worked as a bomb-sniffing team in NY. They also fail to mention that the reason Leavey was not able to be given Rex's location during their long separation was because he was on POTUS detail.

Overall, a heartwarming film that's worth the watch. But if you're like me and you know way too much was left out, just do a little research.

As a side note, any review that starts with a synopsis of the film gets a dislike from me. I don't come here to re-read an outline of the story 30 times. We just want to know what you thought of the film. We already know the actors and read the synopsis, if not already saw the film.

Although I have gotten emotional over films with dogs as a central part of the film before, Megan Leavey is the first canine centric film I've watched since I became a dog owner myself, and it became an extremely moving experience.

There's no denying an impact a dog can have on someone's life. For Corporal Megan Leavey, it was the military K-9 German Shepherd, Rex, who changed her life. The film covers many years of Leavey's time as a K-9 officer with Rex as they save lives uncovering bombs and other dangerous explosives. There are some typical military sequences that set up Leavey as a sort of, mess-up and misplaced character, but for the most part, the film is a unique and inspired take on one section of the military.

Complemented by a solid supporting cast, the real heroes here are Leavey and Rex. Like any great relationship, there are ups and downs. But there are a few indicators that the bond they share isn't something that can be easily quantified, and that made it truly special. Sometimes people are made for each other and sometimes certain dogs are made for certain people. It's just the way it is.

Kate Mara plays Leavey brilliantly, as she so often does with characters. She's one of these under the radar actresses who always seems to bring their A-game. And if not for the fact that I was looking for a movie about a dog, I probably would have forgotten about watching these trailers last summer. The film itself flew under the radar, but I'm sure glad I checked it out.

8.8/10

Greetings from Lithuania.

"Megan Leavey" (2017) is a good movie in short. The first hours was pretty amazing, reminded me of "Hurt Locker" (movie which i love). Later it wasn't so involving or captivating or intense, yet i really enjoyed till the end. Performances were very good by all involved as well it has a good directing.

Overall, "Megan Leavey" is an inspirational story very well told. And if you love dogs, you might pick up some handkerchiefs.