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"Megan Leavey" is an energetic and emotional combat drama about a female warrior discovering the power of love on the battlefield, helmed by a female director who polished her craft in the independent-film world.

If that description sounds a bit like "Wonder Woman," be assured that "Megan Leavey" isn't a superhero epic but the compelling story of a real person and her dog.

Kate Mara ("House of Cards," "The Fantastic Four") plays Leavey, a college-age woman living a dead-end existence in her hometown in a suburb outside New York City in 2003. With few prospects, and tired of living with her nagging mom (Edie Falco) and deadbeat stepdad (Will Patton), she enlists in the United States Marine Corps.

Megan makes it through basic training and is stationed at Camp Pendleton, Calif. She's still a bit of a screw-up, though, and after one incident lands a punishment hosing out dog poop in the kennels at the camp's combat canine training unit. She becomes fascinated with the interaction between dog and Marine and goes to the unit's commander, Gunnery Sgt. Massey (Common), to sign up.

Not so fast, Massey tells Leavey. Joining the canine unit takes effort above the usual Marine training regimen. But Leavey is determined, and soon she qualifies for the squad — first training with a "can" (an ammunition container on a leash) and ultimately with a live dog. She picks as her partner the meanest dog on the base, a German shepherd named Rex.

Eventually, Leavey and Rex are deployed to Iraq for two tours, one in Fallujah and one in Ramadi. Working "in country" is nothing like training, but soon Leavey and Rex prove their worth, detecting numerous IEDs and weapons caches — and saving countless lives in the process.

Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite, making her narrative debut after a career in documentaries (notably the SeaWorld exposé "Blackfish"), and screenwriters Pamela Gray ("Music of the Heart"), Annie Mumolo ("Bridesmaids") and Tim Lovestedt take a refreshingly expansive view of Leavey's life. Where another director would have focused solely on Leavey and Rex's work together in Iraq, Cowperthwaite looks at Leavey's life before and after her Marine service, exploring her issues with PTSD and how they are intertwined with her concern for Rex, still deployed in Afghanistan after she goes home.

The scenes in Iraq are expertly staged, capturing the constant alert needed to hunt IEDs and the instantaneous terror of letting one slip by. The movie's depiction of combat and the camaraderie Leavey feels with her fellow warriors — two-legged and four-legged — make "Megan Leavey" the strongest movie about the Iraq War since "The Hurt Locker."

With a solid supporting cast, including Bradley Whitford as Leavey's dad, and Ramon Rodriguez and Tom Felton as fellow Marines, it's Mara's performance that holds the movie together. She applies the advice given to Leavey — "everything you feel goes down leash" — and dodges the histrionics a lesser actor might play. Mara gives "Megan Leavey" an emotional weight that makes the tears it evokes feel earned.

Twitter: @moviecricket —

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'Megan Leavey'

A Marine and her bomb-sniffing dog form a lasting bond in this compelling true-life drama.

Where • Theaters everywhere.

When • Opens Friday, June 9.

Rating • PG-13 for war violence, language, suggestive material and thematic elements.

Running time • 116 minutes.