The Art of Racing in the Rain is a movie with a pretty terrible title on the surface. This is a dog movie… a talking dog movie… yet the title doesn’t suggest that at all. I was suspect of yet another dog-narrates-life movie (there have been at least three others this year) but went anyway wondering if it’d be charming, quirky, or cringy. It’s kind of all of that.
The Art of Racing in the Rain is a kind of inexplicable movie even if it’s a pretty simple idea. A dog narrates his life with his owner and family… his owner being a professional race car driver (who names the dog Enzo after Enzo Ferrari). Yet it’s not really a dog movie despite the talking (and philosophizing) dog with the gruff voice of Kevin Costner. It’s not really a racing movie either even with a ton of racing-as-life philosophy. It’s really just a family drama (or soap opera if you’re being uncharitable) that happens to include a talking dog and professional racing as a backdrop.
The owner – on loan from This is Us – is played by Milo Ventimiglia and his girlfriend and later wife is Amanda Seyfried. I like both of these actors which is a good thing since the majority of the movie is really about their life more than anything to do with a talking dog. They meet, fall in love, get married, and have a kid… there’s a contentious relationship with her parents because he has a dangerous job that doesn’t always pay well (race car driver). There’s drama, maybe some melodrama, in their lives and if you aren’t keyed into this story, this is not gonna be a good movie. Hell, you could cut the dog out of the movie – and the racing – and still have the same flick.
I liked the cast well enough to go along with it, even though I got antsy and impatient with it at times. It’s not bad – it’s just a slice of life type movie with a gimmick. If you go see it hoping for a dog movie, the dog never actually does anything. He mostly just watches and narrates (in his mind)… and he’s a very wise dog who regrets not having the kind of tongue that allows him to talk or opposable thumbs to help out. And he hates that people just treat him like a dog…
I dunno how most people will react to this movie. If you are the cynical kind who sees through maudlin Hollywood’s attempts to make you cry with forced, false drama, then you might not like this flick. If you love that sort of thing – and you love a good dog or a good race car – then you’ll probably love this flick. I thought most of the emotions it tries to wrest from you come by honestly enough…. the dog thing maybe less so.
Score: 72