”The Art of Racing in the Rain” Movie Review

    It probably isn’t much of a shock to learn I went to see “The Art of Racing in the Rain” last week since it’s a movie featuring a dog.  I mean, of course I would go see this because it’s a dog movie.  That being said, I also knew I was probably in for an emotional rollercoaster and that I might end up crying like a baby by the end of the movie.  Regardless of how many tears I might shed, I decided to go see the movie anyway.

    The film tells the story of professional racer Denny as he adopts a dog he names Enzo.  Denny and Enzo share a bond and friendship as Denny tries to make his way through the ranks of professional racing.  Racing, and to an extent Enzo, take a back seat a bit when Denny meets Eve.  Denny and Eve end up marring and while Enzo doesn’t like having to share Denny’s attention at first, Enzo begins to warm up to her when she becomes pregnant, even hoping their baby looks like him.  What happens next would spoil too much of the movie so I will just say things get very sad and it would be hard not to cry by the end of the movie.

    The film, based on a novel written by Garth Stein, was received with mixed reviews but that couldn’t keep me from a good dog movie.  I really enjoyed the film but the film was a real tearjerker for dog lovers.  The film succeeds largely due to the performance of the dog who plays Enzo.  The human actors, primarily Milo Ventimiglia and Amanda Seyfried, do a decent job but Enzo without a doubt steals the show.  Kevin Costner provides the perfect voice actor for the mature Enzo in the film.

    The film does have it’s flaws despite my enjoyment of the film.  The film is fairly predictable throughout most of it’s runtime and while the movie still remains enjoyable, it undercuts some of the drama slightly.  I also thought some of the moments of levity were out of place, like the moments with the stuffed zebra.  The zebra hallucination was cute but took me out of the movie.

    “The Art of Racing in the Rain” isn’t for everyone but maybe it should be.  The film can be sappy and emotional but sometimes that is just what an audience needs.

Grade: B+