Megan Leavey; Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite; Written by Pamela Gray, Annie Mumolo

Take a plain-spoken heroine who decides for a variety of family reasons to sign up for the Marines.  Add a positive take on the U.S. Marine Corps, plus memorable and upstanding characters who ring true.

Then add amazingly lovable (though not at first) German shepherds in the Marine Corps's canine unit, "sniffers" who save lives by detecting landmines and improvised explosive devices (IEDs).

Full disclosure: Having been lucky enough to have been bivouacked in the U.S. Air Force, as well as a sometime volunteer in the Israeli IDF – Army, Navy, and Air force – the author has a huge tender spot for anything military.  And as far as canines go, the heart melts with affection and amused marveling, indulgence, and love when there's a dog in the picture.  Aside from cats, who doesn't love dogs?

Add to this mix is the fact that Megan Leavey is a true story, portrayed with affecting simplicity and honesty by Kate Mara, and you have a winning combo.  What's maybe a little bit more amazing is that both sides of the current political divide, left and right, are charmed by this winning film – a contender in my estimation for one of the best of the year, easily in competition for the kind of praise rightly lavished on the outstanding – and somewhat parallel – The Hurt Locker (2008).

In terms of combat canine training, personal exposure to a colleague's canine training biz over a few years provides insights about what it takes.  One thing that may not be evident, but should be, is that soldiers and their canine warrior companions must withstand huge noise assault.  Dogs who buck or cower at explosions and sustained gunfire are automatically decommissioned and excluded from further training.  I did not see this aspect of the training, which is crucial to the expert wrangling of such prized four-legged soldiers.  But it is a point that most won't think of in viewing this standout lenser.

If you wonder why Kate Mara, as Marine corporal Leavey, strokes her amazing sniffer, Rex, and murmurs, "Good boy!" instead of feeding him food and treats,  each dog has his own reward mechanism, and here, bonding with the trainer and getting embraced with love and encouragement are reward enough for the four-legged hero.

In life, as shown in the film, Corporal Leavey saved hundreds of lives by IDing mines and explosives in unexpected loci in Iraq.

This is not to say there aren't lethal surprises.

The director cut new terrain, for this viewer, at least, by filling the compassion chambers with affection for Mara as she slowly and painstakingly works with her  ultra-aggressive Shepherd.  You're full of affection and joy for a while.  Shortly thereafter, you are transported into maximal anxiety as the two, with hardcore soldier men in her company, encounter Iraqi irregulars, unknown snipers, seemingly innocent civilians and ground forces shooting at them, exploding ordnance mere feet from them – the suspense and anxiety are much more than the usual film, such as the current acceptable Alien: Covenant, which, for all its remarkable SFX, does not generate fear or anxiety, only attention and interest – especially for the always galvanizing Michael Fassbender in a tour de force double-role.

You don't really bond with the actors in A:C the way audiences do with Leavey.

A small but not uninteresting note is that the excellent direction and writing are all female.  I'm not here claiming that women can't be every bit as dogged and accomplished as male directors and writers in describing military circumstances, but this film is a standout in having all the top-billed creatives being female.  Nice to see.  Perhaps unexpected.

For all that the plot involves a female Marine, there is little unwanted sentimentality.  Leavey seeks, and gets, no favors or extra consideration.  That she serves with heroic distinction and physical injuries is all the more laudable.  Furthermore, there seems to have been a sea change in that, as portrayed in the film, at least, the sexual harassment quotient seems at a blessed remove from this man's Marines.  Leavey faces her tasks and reg-related rejections and obstacles of all sorts with persistence and tenacity.  It beats the likes of  Ridley Scott-directed Demi Moore's rugged but idealized G.I. Jane (1997).  She was expected to fail.  Twenty years on, we don't expect Leavey to fail quite so automatically.

A restrained, uncloying, unusually worthwhile and entertaining movie, this is one of the best we are likely to see in a special effects-happy universe.

And, no small miracle, makes you proud to be an American.