Moviegoers and reviewers don’t always agree on what makes a good film. Critical scores often appear incredibly mismatched with the audience scores, and nowhere is this more true than with Max, which has recently been added to Netflix.

Released back in 2015, the action-adventure film holds just a 37% approval rating from critics; however, when it comes to the audience score, this rockets all the way up to 70%.

The film’s synopsis reads: “After U.S. Marine Kyle Wincott is killed in Afghanistan, Max, his highly trained service dog, is too traumatised to remain in service. Back in the U.S., Kyle’s family adopts the dog, but teenage brother Justin has problems of his own and doesn’t want the animal.

“However, Max may be Justin’s only chance to learn what really happened to his brother. With the help of a dog-savvy friend, Justin and Max begin to bond and set out to unravel the mystery of Kyle’s death.”

Reception

Upon its release, the film was savaged by critics. The consensus on Rotten Tomatoes reads: “Max has good intentions and tries to hearken back to classic family-friendly features, but its disjointed, manipulative plot overwhelms the efforts of its talented human and canine stars.”

In a two-star review for The Guardian, Jordan Hoffmann penned: “Even the best-trained dogs sometimes leave a mess. This is perhaps the key take-home of Max, an earnest but ultimately exhausting movie about an armed forces canine stricken with post-traumatic stress disorder. Too boring for little kids and too square for teens, this is the type of thing families put on when grandma is over, terrified that anything else might offend.”

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Critics weren’t kind when Max was released in 2015

Likewise, Sheri Linden in The Hollywood Reporter opined: “Emotional nuance never has been the forte of director Boaz Yakin (Remember the Titans) or his co-scripter, Sheldon Lettich (Rambo III), but here even the broad-stroke storytelling falls short of its intended impact – not helped by the desperate bombast of Trevor Rabin’s score.”

But audiences have loved the film, with one saying: “Not perfect, but heartfelt, powerful, and worth watching. A wonderful family film that will almost certainly bring tears to your eyes.”

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Audiences were touched by the film

A second enthused: “Going into view the movie, I had low expectations. I thought it was just going to be another boring kiddie movie. Boy, was I wrong! This movie is action packed and intense. It kept me on the very edge of my seat the whole duration. There is some serious suspense to say the least. Not only that, but it’s a real tearjerker. Good luck getting through this movie without becoming teary eyed at least once.“

A third added: “Tissues are recommended for all but the hardest hearted movie critics,” while a fourth mused: “Max is also a tribute to war dogs generally and hopefully will open some minds to the close relationship that exists between man the animal and his other animal friends.”

Who stars in Max?

While five dogs played the titular Max throughout the film, the main canine actor who portrayed the dog was named Carlos. Human-wise, the film was led by Josh Higgins (Walking Out), Thomas Haden Church (Spider-Man 3) and Dejon LaQuake (Unbelievable).

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Robbie Amell was part of the film’s cast

They were joined by Robbie Amell (Upload), Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls), Luke Kleintank (FBI: International), Jay Hernandez (Suicide Squad), Miles Mussenden (Cloak & Dagger), Mia Xitlali (Coast), Owen Harn (Cobra Kai) and Joseph Julian Soria (The Oath).