Tag: Iraq War

WARFARE – Review

A scene from WARFARE. Credit: Murray Close. Courtesy of A24

WARFARE is an intense, immersive experience of war that recalls the opening sequence of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN but in this case, it is most of the film. Told in real-time, it recreates the experiences of a group of U.S. Navy SEALS during an Iraq War operation that goes terribly wrong. The realism is electrifying and unblinking, with a script drawn entirely from the memories of the people who were there. Co-written and co-directed by one of the Iraq War veterans who was a part of that operation, Ray Mendoza, and Alex Garland, director of CIVIL WAR and 28 DAYS LATER. The film stars a line up of rising young stars, including Will Poulter, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Cosmo Jarvis, Kit Connor, Taylor John Smith, and Michael Gandolfini.

WARFARE aims to present a realistic, close-up view of war, so the drama does not flinch from the unpleasant or emotionally tough, as war films often do, cutting away at difficult moments or inserting music to ease the blow. WARFARE instead honestly shows real events, the complexity of the situation, the moral gray areas in their action or mistakes made, while also focusing on the bonds between the SEALS in this difficult situation and their commitment to their mission. Another film that springs to mind is BLACKHAWK DOWN, where what seems a simple mission becomes anything but that.

WARFARE recreates the remembered event of an operation that took place in November 2006 in Ramadi, Iraq. A platoon of U.S. Navy SEALS was divided into 3 squads, as part of an operation to to surveil suspected Al Qaeda insurgents. We follow one group who are in charge of providing support for the operation, in the form of a sniper and surveillance from the second floor of a house across the street from the building where the insurgents are meeting. It seems a straight-forward, and even a lower-risk, assignment but uncertainty, the unexpected and the unknown are the heart of war.

Will Poulter plays the officer in charge of this group, which includes two Iraqi Army members, while Ray Mendoza (D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai) is in charge of communications. On the second floor are medic and sniper Elliot Miller (Cosmo Jarvis) and petty officer Hildebrand (Joseph Quinn) helps keep things on task.

That commitment to honesty in portraying war means WARFARE puts us in the middle of a wartime operation gone wrong, with a script based entirely on the memories and experiences of those who were there and lived the experience. Since the script is built from various people’s memories, the point of view is shifting, as everyone has their own perspective. Co-director Alex Garland knows how to build tension and how tell a nuanced story with complicated characters and situations, a skill he demonstrated amply in CIVIL WAR and 28 DAYS LATER, and WARFARE is gripping throughout its 95 minute running time.

But before we go into the war zone, WARFARE introduces us to this squad of young soldiers, with a scene that lets us grasp how very young they are, many of them still teenagers and perhaps even far from home for the first time. These very young men are relaxing before the go on their mission, but options for relaxation are limited in this Muslim country at war. We see the young soldiers crammed into a tent, crowded around a TV monitor playing an exercise/dance video of women in tight ’80s workout gear. It is clear this video is a familiar one, a favorite even, as the young men exuberantly sing, dance and clown around along with the familiar video, anticipating favorite parts. It is an expression of typical teen silliness, of youthful male spirit and a rare release of the tensions, and while the short sequence also depicts their bonds as a team, it also gives us insight when we see these very young these men in the harrowing scenes to come.

The opening sequence gives way to another view of some of those young men, a platoon of Navy SEALS, who are sent out on a mission. They are to provide backup, and support in the form of snipers to another group who will be engaging with a group of suspected insurgents. The group’s first task is to move into the house they are to occupy, which means storming into the home of an Iraqi family, who are naturally terrified and confused by the invasion. Herding the frightened family into a ground-level room, the SEALS then breaks down a wall to a neighboring unoccupied apartment, to access the building’s second story, where they will set up their surveillance and sniper. The men joke around, and we start to get a sense of their personalities, but we know that something bad is on the horizon.

WARFARE creates an authentic view of combatants’ experiences, flaws and all. While much of the focus in on the soldiers, all the characters are portrayed as real people, and the film also honestly portrays the terror of the family, and fears of the Iraqis embedded with them. As things go wrong and become unpredictable, some people break, some make poor decisions and there is some just plain bad luck leaves then pin down with injuries, as calls for assistance go out. The snipers come under attack, grenades are tossed in, and an attempt to evacuate the wounded goes horribly wrong.

No spoilers here, but it is an intense experience, and at times, graphic one with severed limbs and more. The humanity of everyone involved in this tragic event is always fully developed, a rare thing in a war film. The actors’ strong performances are one of the highlights of this drama, with these gifted young actors crafting complex characters based on real people, who have the flaws of any human, and who make choices, good or bad, based on what limited information they have and, sometimes, on raw emotion. We can’t help but be drawn in, and be moved, by the experiences of these people caught in this horrifying situation.

At the film’s end, we get some side-by-side shots of the actors and the real people they portrayed. Unsettlingly, some of the faces of the real people are blurred out, including the Iraqi family whose apartment was commandeered, reflecting the mixed feelings around the wartime events.

This heartbreaking film can be difficult to watch but it is worth that effort for its honest portrait of the on-the-ground experience of warfare, something that people who have never experienced it directly need to understand in a world where war could occur again.

WARFARE opens in theaters on Friday, Apr. 11, 2025.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

OFFICIAL SECRETS – Review

Keira Knightley as “Katharine Gun” in Gavin Hood’s Official Secrets. Photo credit: Nick Wall. Courtesy of IFC Films. An IFC Films Release.

Keira Knightley takes a break from period costumes to star in the true-story based political thriller OFFICIAL SECRETS, about a British intelligence specialist turns whistle-blower in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq.

South African writer/director Gavin Hood has built a reputation for thoughtful dramas focused on timely topics with ethical complexities, starting with the Oscar-winning TSOTSI. Hood has also directed action films like X_MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE but he has recently offered up drama with serious subjects but featuring big enough stars to get the subject wide audience attention. In the Helen Mirren-starring EYE IN THE SKY, Hood spotlighted the complex human and ethical issues underlying drone strikes. This time Hood focuses on the case of a British intelligence analyst who decided the public’s right to know about government lies being used to justify going to war was worth the risk of breaking the Official Secrets Act oath she signed when she joined the British intelligence, and risk being tried for treason.

The excellent British cast includes Matt Smith, Ralph Fiennes, Matthew Goode, and Rhys Ifans. The story is set in 2003, as the Bush administration is making the case for the invasion of Iraq. Writer/director Gavin Hood uses the issues the story raises to connect to the present. Hood focuses on the people involved and the ethical dilemma and complex decision they face. As with EYE IN THE SKY, Hood’s calm focus on the facts and human drama lets the audience draw their own conclusions rather than pushing a point-of-view, apart from reminding us of the human element in these political issues.

Keira Knightley plays Katharine Gun, a low-level office worker in the British intelligence service. Gun’s job is little more than clerical and routine but like everyone else in the building, she had to sign the Official Secrets Act agreement to work there. She rarely, if ever, sees anything of importance as she transcribes or translates messages but one day she is sent a startling memo in which the British government is asked to participate in questionable actiont as the Bush administration lays the groundwork to justify invading Iraq. The memo from the NSA reveals a plan to enlist Britain’s help in collecting compromising information on United Nations Security Council members, with the intention of blackmailing them into voting in favor of invading Iraq.

She is so shocked by the top-secret memo that she wonders if it was sent to her by mistake, until she learns all her co-workers received it as well.

Gun is so disturbed by the way the British, and global, public are being deceived to justify the Iraq invasion, that she eventually secretly shared the information in the memo with an activist friend. That activist passes it along the a journalist, and in the ensuing explosion of coverage, the British intelligence launches a hunt for the leaker.

The film actually opens with Keira Knightley’s character on trial, so we already know she will revealed as that leaker. Those who remember this recent history will know the basic facts of the outcome but may not know the details of what happened to Katharine Gun, so there is an element of suspense. Gun’s situation is further complicated by the fact that her husband Yasar (Adam Bakri) is an Iraqi Kurdish immigrant, which sparks suspicion in the officials investigating the case. Although he is a legal resident and married to a British citizen, he is at risk, as his wife.

Hood uses this recent history to connect to the present and make us think about the ethical and moral dilemmas we face now. Hood builds tension and suspense, and we are on edge about Katharine’s fate, even if we know what happened with Iraq. Still, the director’s fact-focused but human-centered approach invites the audience to think calmly and deeply about what the characters are grappling with and to connect with them emotionally.

Knightley does her usual excellent job, helping us connect emotionally with this sincere young woman and her tension-filled situation. She is well supported by the rest of the cast, with a particularly nice performance by Fiennes in a pivotal role as her barrister.

Once again, Gavin Hood delivers a thought-provoking film on a serious topic that is also gripping human drama. OFFICIAL SECRETS opens Friday, Sept. 13, at Plaza Frontenac.

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 4 stars

WAMG Giveaway – Win LAST FLAG FLYING on Blu-ray

The Rotten Tomatoes Certified Fresh heartfelt comedy, Last Flag Flying, starring Oscar nominees Steve Carell (Best Actor, Foxcatcher, 2014), Bryan Cranston (Best Actor, Trumbo, 2015), and Laurence Fishburne (Best Actor, What’s Love Got to Do with It, 1993) arrives on Digital January 16 and on Blu-ray™ (plus Digital), DVD, and On Demand January 30 from Lionsgate and Amazon Studios. Based on Darryl Ponicsan’s book of the same name and directed by Oscar nominee Richard Linklater (Best Picture, Best Directing, Best Writing, Boyhood, 2014), Last Flag Flying reunites three Vietnam War veterans 30 years later when one of their sons tragically dies in the Iraq War. Jointly written for the screen by Ponicsan and Linklater and considered “one of the very best films of the year” (Clayton David, AwardsCircuit.com), the warmhearted film about the bonds of brotherhood also stars Oscar® nominee Cicely Tyson (Best Actress, Sounder, 1972) and Yul Vazquez. Featuring new bonus content including never-before-seen deleted scenes, audio commentary, and behind-the-scenes featurettes, the Last Flag Flying Blu-ray and DVD will be available for the suggested retail price of $24.99 and $19.98, respectively.

Now you can own LAST FLAG FLYING on Blu-ray. We Are Movie Geeks has 2 copies to give away. All you have to do is leave a comment answering this question: What is your favorite movie that stars Steve Carell? (mine is BATTLE OF THE SEXES!). It’s so easy!
Good Luck!

OFFICIAL RULES:1. YOU MUST BE A US RESIDENT. PRIZE WILL ONLY BE SHIPPED TO US ADDRESSES.  NO P.O. BOXES.  NO DUPLICATE ADDRESSES.

2. WINNERS WILL BE CHOSEN FROM ALL QUALIFYING ENTRIES.

In 2003, thirty years after they served together in the Vietnam War, former Navy Corps medic Richard “Doc” Shepherd (Carell) reunites with former marines Sal Nealon (Cranston) and Reverend Richard Mueller (Fishburne) on a different type of mission: burying Doc’s son, a young marine killed in the Iraq War. Doc decides to forgo a burial at Arlington National Cemetery and, with the help of his old buddies, takes the casket on a bittersweet trip up the East Coast to his home in suburban New Hampshire. Along the way, Doc, Sal and Mueller reminisce and come to terms with shared memories of the war that continues to shape their lives.

BLU-RAY / DVD / DIGITAL SPECIAL FEATURES

  • Deleted Scenes
  • “An Unexpected Journey: Making Last Flag Flying” Featurette
  • “Veterans Day” Featurette
  • Outtakes

CAST

Steve Carell                            Foxcatcher, The Big Short

Bryan Cranston                       “Breaking Bad,” Argo                          

Laurence Fishburne               The Matrix, Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice

Yul Vazquez                            Captain Phillips, The Infiltrator

  1. Quinton Johnson Everybody Wants Some!!, “The Son”

and Cicely Tyson                    The Help, TV’s “How to Get Away with Murder”

LAST FLAG FLYING – Review

From L to R: Bryan Cranston as “Sal,” Steve Carell as “Doc,” and Laurence Fishburne as “Mueller” in LAST FLAG FLYING. Photo by Wilson Webb. Courtesy of Amazon/Lionsgate ©

Steve Carell gives a sensitive performance as a grieving Vietnam vet father on a road trip to bury his son killed in Iraq, accompanied by his two Vietnam War buddies, played by Bryan Cranston and Laurence Fishburne, in Richard Linklater’s LAST FLAG FLYING.

Set in 2003, the film combines elements of a road trip buddy movie and a reflection on two wars and soldiers shared experiences. In Vietnam, quiet Larry Shepherd (Steve Carell), who the others call Doc, was a Navy Corps medic while the more boisterous Sal Nealon (Bryan Cranston) and Richard Mueller (Laurence Fishburne) were Marines in the same unit. When Doc’s son, who joined the Marines, is killed in Iraq, the father is left alone in the small New England town where he lives. Long widowed and with no close family, he decides to seek out his two wartime buddies, whom he has not seen in decades, to come with him to pick up the body of his only child and stand by him while he is buried in Arlington Cemetery.

LAST FLAG FLYING is a road movie, a buddy movie crossed with a drama about a grieving father, a combination that works intermittently. Byran Cranston delivers a loud, attention-grabbing performance but what elevates the film is Carell’s quiet, moving one as Doc, a performance that might give Carell an Oscar nomination.

Doc first visits Sal, at the bar he owns, where he finds the loud, drunken Sal has not progressed much from his wild days in Vietnam, still getting drunk, passing out, and waking up to have cold pizza for breakfast. Actually, Sal is frustrated with his failing business and becoming vaguely aware that he can’t keep this up forever, so greets Doc’s arrival and the idea of a road trip, albeit for this sorrowful purpose, as a welcome distraction, as well as a chance to support an old buddy. But Sal insists they have to bring along their third pal, his carousing buddy Mueller.

Unlike the aging bar-fly Sal, Mueller has changed – a lot. He is now a preacher, with a wife and a congregation, a responsible adult who regrets and even conceals his wild youth. More than that, Mueller is feeling his age, walks with a cane due to a wartime injury and has also become perhaps a bit over-cautious. He expresses his sympathy towards Doc but has no interest in the road trip, not believing he is physically up to it, but eventually is persuaded.

 

Cranston’s Sal is sort of miffed that his long-ago fellow wild man has changed so much, and so constantly needles him, pushing until Fishburne’s Mueller until he explodes. The louder, big personality Sal and Mueller clash constantly, while quiet Doc calmly goes along, and one gets the sense this was their dynamic back in Vietnam. While the other two bicker, Carell’s character works through his grief, as the men reminisce and reflect on the present. At first, Doc is mostly in need of company that takes him back to the days of his own military service. But then the three learn something from one of his son’s buddies (J. Quinton Johnson), that reveals the military have not told Doc the full story of how his son died, Outraged, Doc insists on taking his son’s body back to his hometown for burial. The revelation echoes something that the three buddies did back in Vietnam, which still haunts them. Putting that right becomes part of the journey.

One might expect a story set in 2003 about a Marine killed in Iraq to have something to say on the Iraq War but instead the film focuses on their Vietnam War experience. There are few parallels drawn, apart from how the military deals with Gold Star families, putting the most glowing spin on the circumstances of the soldier’s death, and sometimes even concealing what happened.

The road trip aspect provide the comic relief side of this tale, while Carell is the center of the drama. Cranston’s over-the-top, loudly obnoxious character is amusing at first but eventually wears one down. Cranston takes up so much of the air in the room that it is hard for the talented Fishburne, playing the prickly voice of reason and restraint, to get as much chance to shine as he deserves. Director Richard Linklater mostly handles the film well but needed to rein in Cranston a bit, to give the talented Fishburne a bit more room to shine, making their scenes more ensemble and less a competition.

Fortunately, Cranston’s showboat performance does not interfere with Carell’s striking quiet but moving performance. In one of his best performances, Carell works through a host of feelings, while exploring life in thoughtful conversations with the more reflective Mueller and the bolder Sal. Those conversations, and Carell’s quiet dignity, are the best moments of the film.

Cranston has big opinions on what Doc should do but often based on his party-til-you-drop philosophy of life, something even Sal is secretly starting to question. While Cranston and Fishburne squabble and the road rolls on before them, Doc slowly works through his grief and then anger, sometimes with the help of his more careful friend Mueller, and occasionally the risk-taking Sal, but often in his own thoughts, expressed in quiet conversation or reflected on Carell’s expressive face.

FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS is best as an exploration of a father’s grief at losing his son in a new war after having survived his own war experience, although it fails to say much on the parallels between Iraq and Vietnam. Still, Carell’s sensitive performance is a standout, strong enough to be a possible Oscar nomination, which makes this film worth your time.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE – Review

(L to R) Adam Schumann (MILES TELLER), Solo Aeiti (BEULAH KOALE) and Will Waller (JOE COLE) in DreamWorks Pictures’ “Thank You for Your Service.” The drama follows a group of U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq who struggle to integrate back into family and civilian life, while living with the memory of a war that threatens to destroy them long after they’ve left the battlefield. Photo Credit: Francois Duhamel/DreamWorks Pictures. COPYRIGHT © Storyteller Distribution Co., LLC

Not all wounds suffered in war are obvious. The fog of war is replaced by the fog of the VA for a band of soldiers returned from Iraq in THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE. While several films have depicted the experience of soldiers in the Iraq War, few have told the story of their experience after they return home. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE focuses on gritty reality rather than comforting patriotism as it follows a handful of Iraq War veterans coping with a military that seems far less responsive as they move from soldiers to veterans, and as they struggle to adjust to a civilian life where those who lost a leg are recognized but less so those suffering the wounds of PTSD.

Other Iraq war films have focused on the experience of war but THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE spotlights the obligation of the military to soldiers as they transition to veterans. Miles Teller delivers a sterling performance as Adam Schumann, the de facto leader of this close-knit group. Among this band of brothers are Tausolo Aieti (Beulah Koale), Billy Waller (Joe Cole) And Michael Emory (Scott Haze). On the flight home, they jokes and tease, talk about their plans for the future, and seem eager to get back to civilian life. But part of it is a brave front to cover up troubling problems or even pure fantasy. As they shed their uniforms, a new battle begins.

A new reality greets them as soon as they land, when Schumann’s wife Saskia (Haley Bennett) meets him in the company of her best friend Amanda (Amy Schumer, in a rare dramatic role), the widow of one of the group who didn’t make it home. Amanda is desperate for details on her husband’s death, something Teller’s Schumann is equally desperate to avoid talking about.

The cast also includes Keisha Castle-Hughes, Brad Beyer, Omar J. Dorsey, and Jayson Warner Smith. Cinematography by Roman Vasyanov adds a surprising beauty to ordinary settings, and helps draw out the inner conflicts the men are struggling with.

Writer/director Jason Hall takes a direct, head-on approach to the challenges these vets face, which makes it clear his sympathies lie with these soldiers rather than the system or superior offices. Based on journalist David Finkel’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, this film has a far different tone from his last film, AMERICAN SNIPER. Those who disliked that film may find this one more involving and insightful, while those who embraced the earlier film may not care for its hard-hitting stance on the treatment of veterans by the military.

 

One of the first parts of that battle is just the transition from active military to veteran. The military is glad to have them re-enlist and walk them through every step but when it comes to even getting the card to get the veterans benefits they are owed, the men find themselves waiting in huge room of fellow soldiers, facing a bewildering system of forms and with no one to guide them. It is a lot to ask of someone suffering from PTSD and accustomed to military efficiency. On the streets, their uniforms draw thank-yous but no practical help. Once out of uniform and with no obvious wounds, they are expected to fit in with the unforgiving pace of a society that has moved forward without them.

The sympathies of this moving drama are with the returning soldiers rather than military or government they served. When striking scene has Teller’s Schumann in the office of commanding officer that is supposed to be helping him get treatment for his PTSD. While the officer seems like his is going to help, his focus keeps drifting to the online shopping he is doing while trying to help Schumann. It is a perfect illustration of a flawed system, where even personal attention is some how impersonal. The search for help is vital to Schumann but just routine to the officer, no matter how well-meaning he may be.

As the drama builds, all these soldiers go on their own rocky journeys, often trying to tough through on their own. Schumann continues to play a protective role towards the others as he did in Iraq but finally he has to confront his own demons.

Much of why this film works emotionally as well as it does (and it does work better than many recent war films) is due to Miles Teller’s strong, layered performance. Teller has shown himself to be an acting power house in films such as WHIPLASH and THE SPECTACULAR NOW, and here he shows his range in a role of both quiet strength and complex human feelings. The ensemble cast blend well, each adding their own distinct thread, but Teller’s performance is the linchpin.

Although the story is set during the Iraq War, the story is universal one for returning soldiers in modern America. While every veteran’s experience is unique, the film points to some significant weaknesses in the country’s treatment of those who served in war. The U.S. military is very good at war but THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE makes clear it needs some improvement in how those who served are returned to civilian life.

RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

 

 

MEGAN LEAVEY – Review

Kate Mara stars as Megan Leavey in Gabriella Copperthwaite’s MEGAN LEAVEY, a Bleecker Street release.

MEGAN LEAVEY is a true story-based drama about young woman whose close bond with a dog changes both of their lives. Although the young woman is a Marine serving in Iraq and the dog is her bomb-sniffing teammate, this really is a touching dog story rather than a war story.

Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s moving but flawed film is based on the true story of Iraq war veteran Megan Leavey and the German Shepherd explosives-detection dog Rex with which she worked. If you are a soft touch for true-story dog tales, this one’s got your number. Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite has previous experience telling a compelling animal story, as the director of BLACK FISH, the award-winning documentary about captive orcas.

Making a nice transition to narrative feature films, Cowperthwaite tells a different kind of “girl and her dog” story, in which the “girl” is actually a troubled young woman Marine struggling to find her footing in life and the dog is no sweet pooch but a military dog with talent for detecting explosives but a terrible temperament. The story follows the two as they meet in basic training and serve in the Iraq War together searching for IEDs and other explosives. The bond they form carries on into civilian life.

Although the film takes place in the early years of the Iraq war, the film has nothing to say, positive or negative, on the war, and focuses solely on Megan and Rex’s story.

This film is a touching feel-good tale of finding one’s self through an animal companion. In 2003, Megan Leavey (Kate Mara) does not join the Marines out of a sense of patriotism – she is running away from her unhappy life, just like countless men who have joined the military throughout time. Megan feels she has no place in the world and no reason to stay where she is. Her best friend just died, her parents are divorced, and she doesn’t get along with her mother (Edie Falco), with whom she lives in upstate New York. More than that, Megan just doesn’t seem to get along with people in general.

In the military, she does no better, and is constantly in trouble. One misdeed earns her punishment cleaning kennels for the K9 unit. There Megan is intrigued by the work of the dog handlers and the bomb-detection teams, and begs to be transferred there. When she finally gets her request, gruff but supportive sergeant Gunny Martin (Common) assigns her to another misfit, a dog no one can handle named Rex. It’s not love at first sight, but Megan has found her mission and she sets her mind on winning over the big dog. When they are deployed to Iraq, Megan and Rex become an unbreakable team, in the military and beyond.

Kate Mara’s restrained performance is low-key but it seems to suit this difficult, troubled woman. The focus is on Megan’s story, and her emotional progress and personal growth as she learns to work with, then trust her canine companion. Her relationship with the dog helps her to improve her ability to interact with her own species as well. Megan gets some help working with Rex and understanding her upcoming role on the battlefield from a kind-hearted, battle-tested fellow dog handler played by Tom Felton. She even finds some romance with another dog handler Marine played by Ramon Rodriguez, but the real relationship at the center is the interspecies platonic one between Megan and Rex.

Cowperthwaite’s film hits the right emotional notes, is well-paced, and avoids the over-sentimental while being moving. On the surface, MEGAN LEAVEY looks like a war movie but it really is not. It is a dog story, about the love between this one woman and her dog. It is more a story set in war, in the vein of the World War I tale WAR HORSE.

Although this is a true story, it is hardly complete picture of either the war in Iraq or women’s experience in the armed services. In fact, the film says next to nothing about the Iraq War beyond Megan’s own personal experiences. Although Megan and her dog prove themselves on the battlefield in Iraq, the film really has nothing to say on the war itself, negative or positive. A television in the background of a scene as Megan announces she has joined the military sets the time as 2003 by showing Colin Powell testifying about Saddam Hussein and “yellow cake.” Beyond setting the time period, it is about the only reference to a reason for the war. The men treat Megan like any recruit, and in Iraq, where she is the only woman in the deployed canine unit, she faces no great difficulties beyond skepticism about her ability to do the job. She never gets more than a few grumbles and leering looks, none of the kind of harassment and worse that women have reported enduring. Instead, this is just Megan Leavey’s own personal experience. This determined lack of commentary in a film set in a conflict still going on seems unsettling, and certainly will bother some viewers.

MEGAN LEAVEY is best when it focuses on Megan and Rex, the warm, winning human-animal story at its center. It is foremost a personal story, about the bond between a woman and her dog and how they rescued each other and found a purpose in each other.

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars