Before we get any further, let’s get this out of the way right at the top … yes, The Art of Racing in the Rain is a dog movie and yes there will be tears. Don’t want to spoil it for you in terms of the why. Let’s just say that a film chronicling a dog’s life with a man, Denny Swift (Milo Ventimiglia) and his family, that follows their collective ups and downs over about 12 years is going to have an ending like can be expected for a Golden Retriever pup whose lived a full life.
Dog movies don’t always have to be sad. It just seems like many of them are and there is an enormous reason why—and it cannot be avoided. It’s obvious, but bears being pointed out. Dogs don’t live as long as we do. A large dog usually can live between 10 and 14 years, while smaller pups can make it to 18 (I had one!). Many are looking at a film like The Art of Racing in the Rain and wonder why anyone would put themselves through the emotional roller coaster that is witnessing a family and their utter adoration for their dog, knowing that it can and will only end one way.
Why? I’ll tell you why!
Those of us who have or have had dogs, will tell you that there is something about the visceral experience of seeing a “dog” movie. It is because it hits close to home. It reminds us why canines are human’s best friends. Yes, there is sorrow—and often ugly crying—when a pup lives a full life and with its quality of life falling into a tailspin, is knocking on death’s door. It is just as depressing when our four-legged BFF leaves this earth early. It is just a different brand of sadness. Therefore, the two hours in the dark, being entertained and enthralled by the cinematic canine is priceless time spent. We have all lived what the characters are going through and will continue to experience what they experience up on the big screen as our lives progress. It’s natural. Two things occur. We get affirmation that all the frustration that comes with pet parenting is more than worth it, even after they chewed your favorite pair of shoes. The totality of a dog’s unconditional love easily eclipses those moments that can make you want to pull your hair out!
In The Art of Racing in the Rain, Denny is driving home from the racetrack—where he was honing his gift—and he fatefully sees a sign at a local farm. IT simply reads, “Puppies.” It is there that he instantly falls in love with a furry pal who will take the moniker of Enzo. Terrific name for a dog of an aspiring Formula I speedster. After all, driving Enzo Ferrari’s products is the ultimate dream for guys and girls like Denny.
From the moment the film commences, there is a narrator. This is no ordinary play-by-play, hold your hand voice that carries the storyline. This is Oscar winner Kevin Costner providing the vocal insight to Enzo. This is a story told from the point of view of the pup who wishes he could drive those race cars! He loves it all. The smell of the oil, gas, burned out tires … the whole nine. Denny takes Enzo everywhere with him, including the track where he becomes an unofficial mascot for team Denny. Then, he meets Eve (Amanda Seyfried). Enzo knows immediately that this is someone special to his master. He must be a fan “of her grooming.” The two marry, have a little girl and then the heartstrings truly start getting pulled in director Simon Curtis’ (My Week with Marilyn) emotional journey that is the life of a pup.
Through Curtis’ lens, so much of life’s trials and tribulations are shown to be softened or enhanced by the mere existence of a furry head to pet and belly to rub. Those of us who have had canines for decades upon decades can tell you, there is nothing more soothing to hold and cry into than a dog to soften your sorrows. There is also nothing greater to get high-fives from when life’s triumphs shower down on us than those four-legged friends who descended from wolves.
Films like Marley and Me and The Art of Racing in the Rain are preaching to the choir with its audience. We know what we are getting into when we purchase that ticket. Still wondering why anyone would put themselves through the emotional ringer by choice? Well, that is a fair question.
See, there’s a validation in seeing a fictionalized version of something we collectively get to experience daily. It is a reminder, a capsulized portrait if you will, of the greatest inter-species relationship that exists in the natural world. One doesn’t stop going to see romance movies or rom-coms because of a bad break-up that has soiled us on the institution of love. Why then would we deny ourselves a bonafide blissful and raw emotional experience that is among the richest humans get to experience? We shouldn’t and I refuse to. Yes, I am the guy paying for parking after the flick still blubbering with tears racing down my cheeks. I would line up to do it again for another furry foible.
The fact that The Art of Racing in the Rain is a pretty decent movie helps things as well. Sure, it drags in parts. As you’re watching that third and final act, one will wonder how Curtis and screenwriter Mark Bomback (working from Garth Stein’s bestselling book) will eventually find a way to wrap this thing up with a nice bow. Everyone (and their grandmother) keenly knows that we’re heading for heartbreak—albeit an incredibly rich and rewarding one.
Life is messy. Life with dogs is extremely messy. In Curtis’ latest heart-tugger, the complexities of life’s curve balls that are thrown at us with our canine companions by our side is impeccably captured in this film. In a stroke of casting genius, I firmly believe that Costner’s vocal prowess in providing a voice for Enzo adds countless layers to the cull of the story on our hearts. It is a rich and rewarding race around the track. It is one of the most stunning vocal performances of this sort in recent memory.
Ventimiglia gives a powerful turn that is as complex as it is commanding (and the always sensational Seyfried is that once again). The actor rivets throughout the entire film. He was one of the best things about Heroes and is a fantastic spoke in the wheel of awesomeness that is This Is Us. The actor has always been one great role away from being considered for the big roles in the big films that can make one a “movie star.” The Art of Racing in the Rain may not be that film, but it is a start. Some great actors over the years have notoriously stated that acting opposite animals and kids is a thankless task. Ventimiglia does both with panache and power that illustrates that the right performer with the pitch perfect tone and talent can achieve greatness in such challenging arenas.
When the players in a doggie drama, such as this one, provide us with another piece of canine cinema that will resonate with us for years to come, it is a no-brainer to see why pup parents line up (and continue to line up) for films such as this one.
It also further illustrates how important, impactful and culturally seismic the pairing of humans and dogs all those centuries upon centuries ago was for both species. Simply put, dogs + humans = Godly brilliance.
Grade: B+