This must be the year of the dog movies but being a dog owner I am fine with that but just like action heroes it can run it’s course. “A Dog’s Way Home” to “A Dogs Purpose”. Not to mention the animated “The Secret Life of Pets“. Like every movie most are adapted from a novel and although filmmakers cannot duplicate all the book into a two hour movie, they give us the cliff notes version.
L-R: “Enzo” and Milo Ventimiglia in Twentieth Century Fox’s, THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN
In Simon Curtis’ “The Art of Racing in the Rain” we are introduced to Enzo, a beautiful (everyone in the movie is) golden retriever voiced by Kevin Costner who takes center stage who awaits his owner Denny (Milo Ventimiglia) to return home in a puddle of pee. Enzo has to go bad and time is of the essence. The opening scenes sets up the ending as everything is told in flashbacks. Enzo came from a litter of nine brothers and sisters as he was meant to be a companion to Denny and his young pre-teen daughter (Ryan Kiera Armstrong). Jump ahead to Eve (Amanda Seyfried) Denny’s girlfriend turned wife. Enzo even politely as a half-human dog carries the wedding rings down the aisle and there they are: The in-laws, the twins as Denny refers to them as.
Enzo watched for months as baby Zoe (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) was being assembled. You have to give Kevin Costner as the voice of Enzo lots of credit as there was feelings that hits hard and heavy as you know what was about to occur. Eve is diagnosed with terminal cancer and heavy indoor rain now comes followed by tissues, a custody battle ensues with her parents, the in-laws played by Kathy Baker and Marlin Donovan. Enzo gets abandoned for two days while Denny is racing in Daytona Beach making his big breakthrough. He returns home to a destroyed house and was not happy. But, hey, no food, water or potty place what does a dog do?
This movie leaves no surprises but go in knowing that there are very funny scenes and gestures by Enzo and down right depressing ones which again are told in flashbacks about a dog wanting to be reincarnated as a human. I appreciate screenwriter Mark Bomback for focusing more on Enzo’s narration than the actually story that actually ran a tad too long as I ran out of kleenex half way through. Hats off to the dog trainers and camera crew who have a great knack for what they do. They made this film. It opens everywhere August 9. 4 stars
