Max And His Dog Reflection

Max is More Than Just a Story of a Boy and His Dog
The 2015 film Max is an entertaining family film because of its story about a family overcoming loss, its outstanding acting, and its kid-friendly action scenes. The film Max follows a teenage boy, Justin Wincott, and the military-trained dog he is left in charge of after his brother is killed in combat in Afghanistan. The dog, a Belgian Malinois named Max suffers from post-traumatic-stress-disorder, putting additional strain on the Wincott family who is trying to come to terms with the loss of Justin’s brother, Kyle. Justin and Max begin to bond just in time to uncover a criminal conspiracy led by a close friend of the Wincott family. With the help of Max, Justin and his family learn to come …show more content…
The war in Afghanistan has left many American families struggling to find peace after the death of a loved one and Max shows just how hard that can be. After Marine, Kyle Wincott is killed in action, his dog Max, who like the Wincott family is struggling to cope with Kyle’s death, is scheduled to be put-down. Believing Max to be a part of the family, Ray and Pam Wincott, Kyle and Justin’s parents, adopt him and tell Justin that Max is his dog now. Justin, already dealing with the trials of adolescents and the death of his brother is reluctant to take on this new reasonability. However, with the help of some friends, Justin soon bonds with Max, leading them on the path of healing that will bring peace to the Wincott family. As stated in a review of Max by Patrick McDonald, “(Max) is the catalyst for the family’s healing and redemption” (McDonald, par. …show more content…
When not helping to put back together the Wincotts, Max is busy leading Justin on an investigation into what his brothers old friend Tyler is hiding. This leads them on an adventure where they must go head to head with vicious Rottweilers and gun smuggling bad guys. Although there are guns in these action scenes they are very palatable for families with children, because they are more focused on moving the story forward than displaying violence. As A.O. Scott says in his review of Max, “(Max) is kind of an updated Hardy Boys detective adventure” (Scott, par. 4). When the film does show Max fight other dogs, it is to protect Justin, and there is no blood shown onscreen. Then in the film’s climax Max pushes Tyler off a bridge, but again it is only to save