Interview
Actor Josh Wiggins And Director Boaz Yakin Talk MAX Movie
Over the decades, the silver screen has been filled with dauntless canines such as SHILOH, TOTO, LASSIE, BENJI and BEETHOVEN.
Now comes the tale of MAX.
A precision-trained military dog, Max serves on the frontlines in Afghanistan alongside his handler, U.S. Marine Kyle Wincott. But when things go terribly wrong on maneuvers, Kyle is mortally wounded and Max, traumatized by the loss of his best friend, is unable to remain in service.
Shipped stateside, the only human he seems willing to connect with is Kyle’s teenage brother, Justin, so Max is adopted by Kyle’s family, essentially saving his life. But Justin has issues of his own, such as living up to his father’s expectations for him; he isn’t interested in taking responsibility for his brother’s troubled dog.
However, Max may be Justin’s only chance to discover what really happened to his brother that day on the front, and with the help of a tough-talking young teen, Carmen, who has a way with dogs, Justin begins to appreciate his canine companion.
Justin’s growing trust in Max helps the four-legged veteran revert back to his heroic self, and as the pair race against time to unravel the mystery, they find more excitement—and danger—than they bargained for. But they each might also find an unlikely new best friend…in each other.
With an end of June release, this red, white and blue, patriotic themed film is one for the whole family. Just make sure to bring some tissues.
During their promotional tour throughout the U.S., the film’s star Josh Wiggins and director Boaz Yakin came to St. Louis to discuss military working dogs (MWD), the casting and the film’s themes of loss, love and healing.
The decision to make Max a Belgian Malinois, instead of a more familiar breed such as a German Shepherd, was informed by the fact that the Malinois has become the breed of choice to serve as MWDs for military forces and law enforcement agencies across the United States and throughout the world. Leaner than a German Shepherd, the highly focused dogs, when trained, can smell drugs and bombs and find bodies. They can be deadly and are trusted to guard the White House and the President of the United States.
Before writing, Yakin observed the dogs in action at the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base K9 Unit in California. Driven to hunt and capture prey, the Malinois has a 270-degree field of vision and the force of its bite equals 1,400 pounds per square inch. It can run 30 miles per hour and withstand the heat of the desert.
“The military aside, people connect with dogs so strongly,” says Yakin. “We often are able to relate to animals, and allow ourselves to be vulnerable with animals, in a way that we don’t with people.”
He continues, “Max became a metaphor for loss and for getting this family to understand and deal with that loss. And to discover what they need to do in order to reconnect with each other.”
Wiggins adds, “I went to where they were training the dogs and I got to meet them there. There was an immediate bond and I was happy to get the part. I love dogs and I have three of my own.”
The filmmakers cast Wiggins as Justin. “Josh is terrific,” Yakin acknowledges.
“We had seen him in HELLION and he was a natural. He was empathetic while not trying to fish for sympathy. For our film, he was immediately able to walk in Justin’s shoes. He’s very comfortable with the animals and he’s a very natural, truthful actor with an instinctive sense of what works. He was able to really ground the film. We were actually hoping he wanted to do the film.”
Wiggins immediately related to the story. He not only hails from Texas, where the film is set, but has a brother who served in the army, three dogs at home, and a father who trains bomb-sniffing dogs for the Houston Police Department.
The 15 year old actor explains that the movie is one that the whole family can enjoy, but that it’s also has, ”mature undertones and complex characters. It was great opportunity to be in this family themed movie while getting to flex some acting muscles.”
Wiggins describes his role of Justin as “a rebellious kid. Justin feels like his older brother was the trophy son and he’s overshadowed by him, so he sees himself as the outcast in the family. I think he resents his dad because his dad was a soldier, and that inspired Kyle to go into the Marine Corps. Now that Kyle is gone, Justin blames Ray in a way.”
Yakin adds, “Justin and Ray have a contentious relationship. He feels the expectations are being placed on him to live up to his father’s and brother’s ideal. He’s trying to figure out his own way and separate himself from their orbit.”
Wiggins agrees. “Justin is so unlike Kyle and so unlike Ray and doesn’t want to be what his dad wants him to be. So they clash in that regard. He wants to make his dad mad so he revolts, but he doesn’t really think about the risks involved.”
Wiggins says, “To me, Max is symbolic of Justin’s brother, Kyle. He has Kyle’s character traits of honor and loyalty, and he teaches Justin to have honor and to be loyal. The closer Justin gets to Max the closer he feels to Kyle and the better he understands why Kyle wanted to be a Marine, and why he left Justin to serve his country.”
MAX takes place in Lufkin, Texas, on the outskirts of San Antonio, near Lackland Air Force Base where MWDs are initially trained. However, filming actually took place in North Carolina, with production based in and around Charlotte. The small town of Lincolnton doubled for Lufkin, where several scenes play out, including the Fourth of July parade on Main Street.
Yakin says, “Of all the places we were going to shoot, it matched the area of Texas the closest. We wanted to film the forests and the nature settings to give it that rich visual feeling.” Wiggins adds, “It feels like Texas.”
To lens the film, Yakin turned to director of photography Stefan Czapsky, with whom he had previously worked on the action thriller SAFE. Czapsky notes, “I’m proud of the photography we accomplished, especially with the dogs and the outdoor action scenes required. Working with Boaz is great; he is very organized and plans out his shots and editing. He knew exactly what he wanted.”
In the film, Max is a specialized search dog. A MWD with this specific skill is trained to go out 300 yards in front of his handler off leash.
Animal coordinator Mark Forbes and his team worked for a month on just the basics to prepare the dogs to work off leash like a MWD.
Training extended to the actors as well, to teach them how to work with the dogs.
Wiggins worked with the animal trainers on the film to learn how to motivate the dog in each scene, and how to reward him. “You put a treat up on your forehead so the dog will make eye contact with you and then you feed the dog,” the actor details. “These dogs are geniuses. They are so well trained, they are amazing. We had so much trust in them and in the trainers.”
He laughs, adding, “Sometimes when the dog was off camera, they would put a big stuffed animal for me to react to instead, which was weird, but funny. You have to block all that out. It required a lot of focus.”
Additionally, Wiggins accompanied his father to the Houston Police Department dog training facility and ran with the dogs who were training in the bomb scenarios to get more comfortable with how they worked. “It was really cool,” he relates.
Forbes felt the young actors were well-prepared and did a great job with their four-legged co-stars. “To be honest, it’s hard to act with an animal in a scene because we’re over there making gestures, being in eye-lines and talking to the dog and sometimes talking over lines,” Forbes explains. “Josh was so gracious. He was great with the dogs, and so was his co-star Mia Xitlali (Carmen). Her character is somewhat of a dog whisperer, so we worked with Mia early on and spent quite a bit of time with her and the dogs so she felt comfortable. The dogs really took to her.”
The Marines are very much a part of this film and had a huge influence on the story.
Yakin says, “My friend Sheldon (Lettich) suggested we do the story on military working dogs. He’s a Vietnam Vet and a Marine. We went to Camp Pendleton to do research and of course, we had military advisors on the set. In the Afghanistan scenes, the part of the Marines were played by military members, so we had a very strong presence there.”
Along with the song “Forever Young” by Blake Shelton, composer Trevor Rabin provides the heartfelt score for the movie.
“We worked on REMEMBER THE TITANS,” the director says. “I love Trevor. He’s a real emotional guy, and his scores where he’s asked to do real action-types, he always wants to work on emotional pieces. I knew he was right for this movie – it needed an adventure theme as well as an emotional sound that was genuine. This is the first time we’ve worked together since TITANS and I was thrilled that he could do it. We worked very hard on it and I’m proud of it.”
What can audiences take away from MAX? Yakin says, “We hope that we’ve made a movie for families – one that kids especially will embrace. We don’t pander to them with these ideas.”
Wiggins adds, “It’s nice to have this kind of relatable, story-driven movie come out during the summer. Something different to offer besides the blockbusters.”
Yakin concludes, “There’s something about identifying with an animal that allows us to drop our judgments and inhibitions, and often our cynicism. And if we can drop those, we can bridge whatever gap there is with the people in our lives, as well.”
MAX opens nationwide on Friday, June 26th
The film has been rated PG for action violence, peril, brief language
and some thematic elements.
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