Megan Leavey

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

Megan Leavey (Kate Mara) is a young aimless woman haunted by a loss and fighting with her mother (Edie Falco). She decides to join the Marines. She gets punishment to clean out the canine pens. She is inspired to join the unit and paired with troubled Rex. They are sent to Iraq.

This has a solid true-life story. It is standardized uplift. The Iraq section is the most compelling which is reminiscent of The Hurt Locker. There are some heart-pumping scenes. Then it changes into something else when she returns to America. There are plenty of good issues like PTSD and the military's treatment of their veteran canines. This is solid inspiring military film.

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.

I like Kate Mara and I am a dog lover so when I spotted this I had to watch it. But I was expecting some shmultz. I'm very pleased to say the shmultz was minimal but the emotion and entertainment was vey high.

Firstly it highlights the animals we press into work for us, even if that work involves danger. Obviously they can't consent, and obviously the military do try to train and protect their dogs as much as possible. But it's important to remember the dogs undergo all this because they are bound by love to humans.

It also shows the bonds that can be made between two species, without a common language, and yet an ability to understand each other clearly and coherently. Those bonds supersede any danger the animal may be in. We trust them to do their job and they trust us to look after them and make them happy.

Based on true events this is a great insight into soldiers as brothers, whatever the species of the soldier, and the things they do for one another.

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.