Reviewing the movie Megan Leavey

                                                     " I learnt to love from Rex"- Megan Leavey

The Movie : Megan Leavey

Her true story of having a K-9 companion with excellent instincts that saves lives of US soldiers in Iraq is amazingly heartwarming. The acceptance by Megan and Rex (the dog) of each other and their unshakeable bond, her struggle to adopt him is what this movie is all about. I am not so impressed with the first part of the movie though. They show a US military combat dog named Rex a German shepherd in training which is extremely aggressive and insubordinate. Megan Leavey happens to come from a broken family with separated parents. She has been living with her mother who is unwelcoming of her situation. She has been doing boring odd jobs to just fill her life. A tragedy of losing a friend to put behind her she feels herself to be just drifting without purpose not knowing how to cope. So to break free, she joins US military to only find herself in a situation where she has to wash and scrub for the US military K9 training Unit. This is how she chances upon meeting this “aggressive” dog Rex as determined by his earlier handlers, other soldiers and the manner in which Rex builds his image by growling and biting. (I understand completely as to how the dog is shown here because that’s how dogs are when they are not understood properly). She goes off to be in charge of this dog and train along with him for missions. This is where I don’t understand this movie. They abruptly show her doing couple of right things that makes her miraculously bond with Rex and then the training starts to go well. I feel disconnected here as there is a part of the story gone missing. No dog becomes obedient overnight. There has to be a time and manner in which a so called aggressive dog is approached. I was actually rooting to see how this bond is created. Nevertheless, this is the first half of the movie. The second half becomes interesting as the story progresses to show how wonderfully bonded they are, how Rex is highly intelligent in sniffing out IEDs from deep underground on Iraq dessert. Now I am getting excited and things are turning really interesting. Even if you are not a sucker for animals or pets, Rex will actually impress you in this particular scene, here he intelligently and deliberately saves a soldier’s life by dragging him off his ass that makes him nearly miss a bullet aimed at him. Mind you this is no unrealistic exaggeration as this can truly happen with animals their level of instincts, dedication and heroism are extraordinary.

In spite of being hit by a bomb explosion the duo carry on to complete the mission and save many lives, which makes them war heroes. Both being physically hurt are separated from each other for a long time. The story now is about Megan’s struggle to adopt this heroic dog. Every soldier who has had and encounter with the enemy or been in the war knows how difficult it is to cope with the trauma. The same is true for the serving animal as well. This is seldom understood in our society where all others except humans are treated as assets and are there to fulfill a purpose. The vet feels that Rex is aggressive, Unable to recognize the fact that he has suffered a trauma of being blown up. This is why Megan struggles to adopt him. As per US law the dog will have to be eventually put down as he is termed aggressive. I love the message that the movie gives. How she overcomes every obstacle and never gives up on her companion. This is what the animals teach us the virtues of love, respect, dedication, and to never give up on any fight of any form in life.

We will only progress as a society when we start to learn from everything around us. Megan does say in the movie that Rex teaches her how to truly love. I experience this every day in my life, so I can say that that really is a fact. We humans attribute bad behavior and violence to the term called as behaving like animals. Hah! a Joke in my mind. I would feel superior to ever be called an animal. 

I am so happy and honored to have watched this story. I recommend everyone to watch this movie for REX, he will impress you with his heroism and love. 

The Real life Corporal Megan Leavey & Sargent Rex