‘Megan Leavey’ serves as unique movie about war

Based on a true story, “Megan Leavey” is a unique movie about war. It’s a story of heroism, sacrifice, and connection forged on the battlefield, but it’s remarkable in how the story it tells is so deeply personal that it obfuscates the political. The focus is on the troops, as it should be, and in this case, troops whose stories haven’t always been seen on screen — the women, and the canine.

Named after the woman who protected soldiers in Iraq with her IED-detecting K9 officer, Sergeant Rex, “Megan Leavey” might be a story about war, but it’s much more a tale about the bond between humans and animals. “Blackfish” director Gabriela Cowperthwaite was recruited to direct her first narrative feature by star Kate Mara, who was inspired by Cowperthwaite’s animal advocacy with the Sea World documentary. In placing the relationship between K9 dogs and their handlers at the forefront of this story, this film about war is far more a story about compassionate connection under fire than the circumstances that lead to such events.

Leavey (Mara) signs up for the Marines as a way out of her dead-end life, and there, she finds a purpose, and a soul mate, in Rex. As a female K9 handler in Iraq during the height of the conflict in the early 2000s, she is out in front of the front lines before women were even allowed in combat, and Cowperthwaite captures that queasy sense of unease and terror of walking out into unknown territory, bombs potentially anywhere underfoot. Wounded in an explosion, Leavey is awarded a Purple Heart, and leaves the Marines, but is separated from Rex, who is redeployed. Thus, she begins an odyssey to reunite with and adopt her best friend.

Though the film starts in 2001, the events of 9/11 don’t factor into the story. The writers, Pamela Gray, Annie Mumolo and Tim Lovestedt, focus on the interpersonal motivations, keeping the world and perspective honed in on Megan’s experience with Rex. For the purposes of the film, mental health challenges make up the dramatic dynamic of the film’s story — her depression is what motivates her to join up, her trauma bonds her to Rex, her post-war grief spurs her into action.

As a director, Cowperthwaite doesn’t lean into overly dramatic moments, and in fact, they can often waft by surprisingly quickly. While sometimes this results in a personal motivation that feels a bit scanty and shallow, it’s actually refreshing for this genre. It’s an intimate drama about a personal journey, a story about true love and companionship — how showing up for others can help you to show up for yourself. Those lessons are universally useful, and always inspiring.

CONTRIBUTED BY BLEECKER STREET MEDIA Kate Mara stars as Megan Leavey in the film “Megan Leavey.”