Reel Critics: ‘Max’ brings trauma and trouble back to all-American family

“Max” is a highly trained military dog on duty in Afghanistan with his Marine Corps handler, Kyle Wincott. When Kyle is killed on patrol with Max, the dog develops a canine version of PTSD and is unable to function as a war dog anymore. The family of the fallen Marine adopts Max and takes him into their home.

Thomas Haden Church of “Sideways” fame plays the stubborn blue-collar father of the clan. He is also a former Marine with his own issues from the first Iraq war. His wife is a religious mother with a strong Christian faith.

Their younger teen son, Justin, is a troubled teen played with great low-key power by Josh Wiggins. His aimless life of video games is altered forever with the arrival the dog. The screenplay injects dangerous people and situations into this all-American format.

Justin and Max become embroiled in unexpected perilous adventures. Gunplay and bad guys push the mild PG rating. But rest assured that family values are in the forefront and definitely triumph in the end.

—John Depko

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A little more “Chaos,” s’il vous plait

Alan Rickman directs “A Little Chaos,” a semi-fictional story of the 17th century architects who designed the lush gardens of Versailles.

Like Rickman’s wondrously velvet voice, the movie is elegant, arch and slow. However, a movie about passion requires more heat and fewer double entendres.

Kate Winslet is Mme. Sabine De Barra, a modern woman for her times and a well-respected landscape architect. She interviews with famed real-life designer André Le Notre (Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts), who dismisses the “chaos” of her designs but is later intrigued by her unique vision. Or perhaps he likes her looks. It’s hard to tell.

Sabine is hired to build an outdoor ballroom and rock fountain, the construction of which is fascinating and still exists today. All are anxious about pleasing the notoriously picky Sun King. In one of the film’s best scenes, she and the Sun King make a charming connection in a private garden.

It’s the love story between Sabine and Andre that wilts. Schoenaerts, so good in “Far From the Madding Crowd,” doesn’t have the commanding presence and smoldering sensuality here. He seems to be bored with it all, and so are we.

Winslet is always worthwhile and plays Sabine with her usual natural directness in a physically challenging role.

I wanted to like “A Little Chaos” more than I did, because the visuals are stunning and the cast (including a scene-stealing Stanley Tucci) is excellent. As a director and co-writer, Rickman must try not to be too refined. He gave us a tame, well-manicured garden when what we really needed was a night-blooming jungle.

—Susanne Perez

*

JOHN DEPKO is a retired senior investigator for the Orange County public defender’s office. He lives in Costa Mesa and works as a licensed private investigator. SUSANNE PEREZ lives in Costa Mesa and is an executive assistant for a company in Irvine.