3.5 Razors

• Title: Megan Leavey
• IMDb: link

Based on the true story of US Marine Corporal Megan Leavey and her four-legged partner Rex who served two deployments in Iraq finding hidden explosive devices and insurgent weapons, Kate Mara stars as a lost young woman who finds purpose as a K9 handler. With the potential pitfalls of being both an uplifting military tale and a movie about a woman and her dog, director Gabriela Cowperthwaite and screenwriters Pamela Gray, Annie Mumolo, and Tim Lovestedt do a fair bit of work to not let things get too schmaltzy over the film’s 116-minute running time (although at certain times in the film this becomes a losing battle).

As someone who doesn’t mind a little schmaltz, as long as it serves the story (and it certainly does here), Megan Leavey delivers an engaging tale. Kate Mara may not be the typical idea of a Marine, but Leavey’s story is hardly typical and the casting works. While she and the dog are the true stand-outs here, a grizzled Bradley Whitford (who it took me a moment to recognize) steals a scene or two as Megan’s father. Harry Potter‘s Tom Felton also has a small role as a fellow dog handler. Less effective are the one-note performances of Edie Falco and Will Patton as Megan’s mother and her boyfriend.

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