Megan Leavey - 3 1/2 smiles

Based on a true story, "Megan Leavey" is an affecting story about love, sacrifice and the forging of identity. Megan (Kate Mara) signs up for the Marines as a way out of her dead-end life. 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 director Gabriela Cowperthwaite captures the queasy sense of unease and terror of walking out into unknown territory, bombs potentially anywhere under foot. Wounded in an explosion, Leavey is awarded a Purple heart and leaves the Marines, but is separated from Rex, who is redeployed. Fighting PSD and grief over losing Rex, she beings an odyssey to reunite with and adopt her best friend.

Writers Pamela Gray, Annie Mumolo and Tim Lovestedt keep the world and perspective honed in on Megan and Rex. The unspoken yet ever-present undercurrent running throughout is the theme of mental health struggles. Her depression is what motivates her to join up, her trauma bonds her to Rex and her postwar grief spurs her into action. The movie is about a woman who finds her best self after bonding with her bomb-sniffing dog and vice-versa. Mara and the dog convincingly portray the life-or-death bond necessary for their job. Although Cowperthwaite focuses on the human-dog relationship more than human relationships, this is a minor problem (especially if you're a dog lover). "Megan Leavey" is about how loving a dog can make life meaningful and it's an inspiring story.