‘Max’ tugs at the heartstrings — hard

There’s a lot going on in the family movie “Max,” which is partly a redemptive story about a troubled boy and his dog, but also a crime thriller with action elements and a junior detective tale.

Almost uncontrollable, Max winds up with the handler’s small-town Texas family, and is made the responsibility of the dead man’s younger brother, Justin (Josh Wiggins).

For reasons I won’t trouble you with, the dad becomes convinced that Max was somehow responsible for his elder son’s death.

Before that problem gets resolved, Justin, the girl and his best friend — as well as the father — are unwillingly dragged into a nasty criminal enterprise that could have deadly consequences.

The villain (Luke Kleintank) is a rogue Marine who was the handler’s boyhood chum and served with him in Afghanistan, and now works for the dad.

The sappy music and Hallmark look of “Max” don’t help, nor does the script, which is straight out of Screenwriting 101.

There are one or two clunky plot turns that evoked titters from a preview audience.

For the record, he is a Belgian Malinois, a breed that in real life is often used in police and military work.