It’s hard to explain the bond you feel with your animal companion to someone who’s never experienced it. Animals can be pure, innocent and fiercely loyal, especially to the humans they share an invisible connection with. Their naiveté is such that they start life as blank slates, ready to be programmed by their environments and their humans. If you treat them with care, kindness and love, you will be blessed with an almost ethereal kinship.

This incredible relationship between man and beast is beautifully examined in director Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s biopic Megan Leavey, played in the best performance of her career by Kate Mara. Megan Leavey, of course, was the American Marine Corporal who performed her duties as a Military Police K9 handler in Iraq. There, she was partnered with war dog Rex (E168), who was considered a difficult beast, but responded to her well. The duo were deployed in Fallujah in 2005 and later in Ramadi in 2006, where after years of service in which they saved many lives, both Megan and Rex were badly injured by an improvised explosive device (IED).

Exploring the incredible relationship between man and beast

Megan Leavey examines these events in a heartfelt drama that conveys the relationship between a person and their loyal dog better than any words can. As an animal lover who has formed many lasting bonds with beasts over the years, bonds that I will openly admit have helped me gain the inner strength to traverse some personal storms, I have to say that quite a few of the scenes in Megan Leavey left me feeling raw. If you especially have an affinity with dogs, then a box of tissues is a mandatory requirement to the Megan Leavey viewing experience.

The key to the success of Megan Leavey is how it handles the relationship between Megan and Rex. These scenes could have easily been heavy-handed and nakedly designed to tug at your heartstrings, but the characterisation is subtle, realistic and respectful. I also enjoyed the cinematography by Lorenzo Senatore. The look of the film coupled with the editing by Peter McNulty gave it a The Hurt Locker (2009) feel.

The key to the success of Megan Leavey is how it handles the relationship between Megan and Rex. These scenes could have easily been heavy-handed and nakedly designed to tug at your heartstrings, but the characterisation is subtle, realistic and respectful.

This isn’t to say that Megan Leavey is perfect. To start with, the pacing is a bit off, with some jarring sequences. What’s more, even at less than two hours, it felt a bit longer than necessary. This is probably because Megan Leavey is excellent when the story is about Megan and Rex, but feels a bit choppy when trying to flesh out Megan’s back story. There are plenty of scenes in which we learn more about Megan’s past that aren’t handled too well. To top it off, there is a romance that feels like it was slapped on as an after-thought. Thankfully, these nitpicks don’t derail Megan Leavey from being an immensely rewarding viewing experience overall.

One of my biggest concerns before Megan Leavey began, especially because of jingoistic films such as American Sniper (2014), was that the storytelling would take a nauseatingly in-your-face patriotic route, as so many of these Hollywood war movies set in Iraq do. Rather surprisingly, this wasn’t the case. It’s just more credit to Gabriela Cowperthwaite for resisting the temptation to grab at low-hanging fruit.

Rated PG-13 for war violence, language, suggestive material and thematic elements

Published in Dawn, ICON, June 25th, 2017