Megan Leavey
Bleecker Street Media | Release Date: June 9, 2017 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
66
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 25 Critic Reviews
Positive:
19
Mixed:
5
Negative:
1
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
88
RogerEbert.comSheila O'MalleyJun 9, 2017
Megan Leavey is that rare breed: a war movie that actually shows something new about war, a sub-culture within a familiar sub-culture, the world of the military's K-9 units. For that alone, it should be applauded. Read full review
88
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperJun 7, 2017
Kate Mara delivers one of the best performances of her career in the title role. Read full review
80
The New York TimesNeil GenzlingerJun 8, 2017
If the conclusion doesn’t bring a tear to your eye, you’re way too cynical. Read full review
75
Tampa Bay TimesSteve PersallJun 12, 2017
Megan Leavey does the feel-good job everyone intends, an interesting story straightforwardly told. Cowperthwaite and Mara won't get a fraction of Wonder Woman's audience yet deserve as much respect. Read full review
75
St. Louis Post-DispatchCalvin WilsonJun 8, 2017
Mara, perhaps best known for her stint on the Netflix series “House of Cards,” isn’t entirely persuasive as a Marine. But she’s appealing as a young woman who takes control of her life with a little help from an unlikely companion. If you have a soft spot for dogs, this is a love story you’ll find irresistible. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter TraversJun 8, 2017
Mara is funny, fierce and altogether wonderful, even up against an irresistible costar. Read full review
75
Boston GlobePeter KeoughJun 7, 2017
Perhaps it’s just as well that other issues remain in the background and the film focuses instead on the bond between Leavey and Rex. Not only is it a compelling metaphor for a woman finding independence and empowerment, it dramatizes a primal emotional relationship that proves heartbreaking and triumphant. Read full review
75
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleJun 7, 2017
One-half of an unremarkable war movie, followed by a touching story about the importance of animals in people’s lives. Fortunately, the stronger part is saved for last. Read full review
75
Movie NationRoger MooreJun 5, 2017
Mara delivers the movie’s emotional punches like a prize-fighter, utterly selling us on the notion that this cold, remote and guarded member of the working class walking wounded has found her true love in the one guy who needs her, sticks with her and saves her life. Read full review
75
The Film StageJohn FinkMay 18, 2017
The film celebrates warriors of all species, providing a subtle pro-military message that’s free from the rousing pomp one comes to expect from the genre. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesRobert AbeleJun 8, 2017
An even-tempered slice of pro-animal sentimentality that may not be the smoothest piece of filmmaking, but wears its emotions honestly and benefits from offering a look at a rarely explored arena of human-animal relationships: dogs trained for combat. Read full review
70
Village VoiceAbbey BenderJun 8, 2017
Megan Leavey is a rarity in Hollywood: a true story of a woman in combat, directed by a woman. This representation, combined with the undeniably lovable canine at its center, elevates it above the typical war film. Read full review
70
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzJun 8, 2017
Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite keeps things moving, but her stripped-down approach is more effective in creating the world of the characters than in showing us how they interact inside it. Read full review
70
The Hollywood ReporterSheri LindenMay 31, 2017
Bringing their real-life story to the screen, director Gabriela Cowperthwaite has made a movie about soldiers that's not, strictly speaking, a war film. She's made a love story, one that's all the more heartstring-tugging for its cogent restraint. Read full review
70
VarietyNick SchagerMay 31, 2017
Often too clunky for its own good, and (ahem) doggedly apolitical throughout, this earnest feel-good tale nonetheless manages to pull on the heartstrings with sufficient gentleness. Read full review
63
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Johanna SchnellerJun 8, 2017
Unfortunately, the film also wants to show us what happens to veterans, both human and canine, when they return home and here it loses its way. The stateside scenes meander so much, you’ll find yourself in the unlikely position of wishing we were back in Iraq. Read full review
63
The Seattle TimesMoira MacdonaldJun 8, 2017
It’s a quietly competent film and a good story, and in the overstuffed summer movie season, often that’s more than enough. Read full review
63
Washington PostMark JenkinsJun 8, 2017
This movie is rarely more than merely competent, but it should stir lovers of justice as well as dog fanciers. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneKatie WalshJun 8, 2017
Animals make for good screenwriting devices, as characters can speak their inner feelings to them, but that doesn't make for the most subtle or efficient screenwriting. Read full review
60
TheWrapElizabeth WeitzmanMay 30, 2017
Unless you’re coming to the material with the experience of, say, Steven Spielberg, “violent war biopic” and “inspirational animal drama” are a tricky combo. So while it’s perhaps no surprise that director Gabriela Cowperthwaite struggles to weave these disparate threads together in Megan Leavey, she ultimately does her heroes — both of them — proud. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyChris NashawatyJun 9, 2017
Megan Leavey is one of those strong-arm soaps, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that it has a certain secret weapon in the forced-waterworks department—an adorable bomb-sniffing German shepherd. All together now: Awwwwww. Read full review
58
IndieWireDavid EhrlichJun 7, 2017
A true story so pure that it almost grants its teller the permission to be sloppy, Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s Megan Leavey is a bit of a mess from the moment it starts, but it’s hard to completely dismiss any movie with a soul this strong, just as it would be hard to dismiss a disobedient puppy so long as its tail keeps wagging. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubJesse HassengerJun 7, 2017
When Megan Leavey touches upon the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder in both humans and animals, it looks capable of bringing something novel to the human-and-dog formula. Most of the time, it’s a rote biography of someone a dog really liked. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc SavlovJun 7, 2017
This is a film that can’t decide if it wants to be a war movie or a rescue dog melodrama and therefore falls into cinematic no-man’s/woman’s-land. Read full review
38
Slant MagazineKenji FujishimaMay 30, 2017
Everyone here, from fellow marines to Iraqis, is merely a supporting player in Megan Leavey's emotional journey. Read full review
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