It’s interesting to me that the title of this film is the woman who joins the Marines hoping to kick-start her life into gear, when the most important character in the story is the German Shepherd named Rex.  Bonding with the dog teaches Megan how to adapt to the world around her and provides her with the unconditional love that she needs, and that she needs to give.  Their bond is the whole story, so it would have been nice if Rex had been able to share in the title glory.

Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s film presents Megan (Kate Mara) is a listless young woman, trouble bound and haunted by the drug overdose death of her boyfriend.  Hoping to escape her miserable home life (which is never adequately portrayed) she enlists in the Marines and almost flunks out there as well, but for the opportunity to train a dog (Rex) to sniff out explosives.  Megan finds her focus, learns to care for Rex and takes him into battle in Iraq, where they serve with distinction.  An explosion sends Megan home to recover, but her battle to save Rex is just beginning.

Megan’s home life scenes with her mother (Edie Falco) and stepfather (Will Patton) are short on detail but do reveal long-simmering tensions.  Eventually she settles in with her quiet father (Bradley Whitford) but even there communication is infrequent and unsatisfying.  Megan, it seems, can only communicate properly with Rex, whom she talks to all the time.  His unfailing companionship is what makes her feel worthwhile, and this is beautifully conveyed in the film.

The last half hour or so is more political, as civilian Megan tries to persuade the Marines to allow her to adopt Rex permanently and care for him.  Military rules, especially ten to twenty years ago, did not allow for much flexibility when dealing with dogs that had served (many of which suffered from PTSD just like their soldier handlers).  Megan’s case made national headlines and she was ultimately able to provide Rex with a home; it is shown that this cause greatly helped Megan to adapt back to civilian life, too.

While the home life scenes of the story are fairly flat, the overseas training and mission scenes are quite good.  Kate Mara is excellent in the lead, with Ramon Rodriguez, Tom Felton and Common lending strong support.  The best performances are delivered by the dogs who portray Rex and the other Marine canines, who seem perfectly in tune with the script.  Megan Leavey (and Rex) largely avoids sentimentality while delivering an engrossing personal story that certainly has wider ramifications and universal emotional impact.  It’s definitely worth seeing.  ☆ ☆ ☆.  3 July 2017.