racing in the rain movie review

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I have eaten stacks of pancakes that were less syrupy than "The Art of Racing in the Rain." It is the third and least effective narrated-by-a-dog movie of the year, and that does not include the animated " The Secret Life of Pets 2 ," another look into the inner thoughts of our companion animals.  

More pretentious and less effective than " A Dog's Way Home " and " A Dog's Journey ," this film also gives us the human world through the eyes, nose, and sometimes wise, sometimes imperfect understanding of a devoted canine. It is based on the best-seller by filmmaker and race car driver Garth Stein and its aspirations are self-consciously literary. The narration is flowery, whether the topic is the world as perceived by a dog or his dreams—of auto racing and of being truly human. This dog wants to have a tongue that can speak, thumbs that can grasp, and a very, very fast car he can drive.

The dog in this story is Enzo, named for Enzo Ferrari, a race car driver and founder of the automobile company, voiced with the husky gravel of Kevin Costner . Aspiring  Seattle-based race car driver Denny ( Milo Ventimiglia ) adopts Enzo as a puppy and he remains Denny's most loyal companion as the household expands to include Denny's girlfriend and then wife Eve, played by Amanda Seyfried and their daughter Zoe (Ryan Kiera Armstrong). "I'm not much of a dog person," Eve says warily when she first sees Enzo. "He's more person than dog," Denny tells her. Enzo thinks so, too. And Eve comes to love Enzo, who is at first wary and a bit jealous of "the attention he lavished on her with her opposable thumbs and plump bottom," but who comes to love Eve, too. And when Zoe arrives, he is immediately protective and utterly devoted.

Enzo loves to watch car racing, on television at home with Denny, who also reviews his own "in-car" recordings to help improve his performance. Sometimes he gets to go to the track, where he finds the smells and energy intoxicating. He listens carefully to the koan-like maxims of racing: "The car goes where the eyes go." "No race was ever won on the first corner, but many have been lost there." "There is no dishonor in losing the race. There is only dishonor in not racing because you are afraid to lose." And especially: "That which we manifest is before us; we are the creators of our own destiny." He tells us that what was once said about another driver is true of Denny, who is particularly expert in racing when the weather gets bad: "When it rains, it does not rain on him." This dog is a canine Marianne Williamson version of a fortune cookie maxim. Plus poop humor.

Enzo witnesses family stress, conflict, and tragedy, and does his best to help. He is the first to know when a member of the family gets cancer because he can smell it. He barks to bring help when someone is in danger and he takes dog-style revenge on someone who wants to separate Zoe from her father. 

The appeal of these films is easy to understand. We cannot help wondering about these creatures who live with us, who observe the most intimate details of our lives, who love us so unconditionally, who comfort us so compassionately, who seem to have no other purpose but to be our companions. It does not take much imagination to think of their simplicity as understanding deeper than our own. If loving and being loved (plus being fed) is their purpose, then perhaps that is true.  

Anyone who cherishes a dog will be drawn into this story, and even the most hard-hearted will be moved by the dog's devotion and the grief of the humans around him. But the narration that might feel poetic as we read can seem gratingly pretentious when spoken aloud while it is acted out. The storyline relies on the built-in emotion pet lovers will bring to it and the soapy details of Denny's struggles and loss. Only the most sentimental pet lovers will be able to get past the self-indulgent pretentiousness of the narration, and even they may find it troubling to be told a dog's highest purpose is to become human. We know very well that opposable thumbs and being able to drive are fine, but they can't compare to the true-heartedness that dogs bring to the humans lucky enough to be loved by them.

Nell Minow is the Contributing Editor at RogerEbert.com.

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The Art of Racing in the Rain (2019)

Rated PG for thematic material.

123 minutes

Milo Ventimiglia as Denny Swift

Kevin Costner as Enzo the Dog (voice)

Martin Donovan as Maxwell

Ian Lake as Mike

• Simon Curtis

Writer (novel)

• Garth Stein
• Mark Bomback

Cinematographer

• Volker Bertelmann
• Dustin O'Halloran

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The art of racing in the rain, common sense media reviewers.

Weepy wisdom dispensed in dog drama about life and loss.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

"Rain" in title is a metaphor for life's most diff

Denny is a fantastic role model: He's kind, patien

Two men argue, which leads to a minor accident. Sp

A couple falls in love, gets married, starts a fam

"Hell," "oh my God," and "for Christ's sake." A do

Set in the world of auto racing, where sponsorship

Characters seen holding drinks in social settings,

Parents need to know that The Art of Racing in the Rain is a very emotional drama told from a dog's point of view. It's based on the best-selling novel by Garth Stein and uses racing analogies to explain how to steer through life's most difficult challenges. That metaphor may connect with teens, but it will…

Positive Messages

"Rain" in title is a metaphor for life's most difficult challenges; to get through them, you must "create your own conditions" so that when it rains, you can control your reactions to keep driving, keep racing, come out victorious. Lots of quotable wisdom using racing analogies: "No race has ever been won in the first corner, but many have been lost there." "There is no dishonor in losing the race; the only dishonor is not racing because you are afraid to lose." Themes also include communication, curiosity, empathy, integrity, teamwork. Wealthy characters act superior, use their money to influence the legal system. The dog monologues "People are generally not satisfied with what they have; they are very concerned with what they are going to have."

Positive Role Models

Denny is a fantastic role model: He's kind, patient, thoughtful. He puts his family above his career, he's a loving father (to both his daughter and his dog), and he respects others' wishes. When life gets difficult, he doesn't let it affect who he is as a person, but fights for what's important. Minor supporting characters have positive ethnic representations.

Violence & Scariness

Two men argue, which leads to a minor accident. Spoiler alert : Moments of sadness/separation/loss that may be upsetting or spark fear: A child's loving mother is stricken with cancer and dies; immediately after, the child is separated from her father for an extended period of time with the threat of it being permanent. A dog dies.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

A couple falls in love, gets married, starts a family: They kiss on several occasions. Before they're married, they're seen in bed (no graphic nudity, nothing sexy happening) in the morning.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

"Hell," "oh my God," and "for Christ's sake." A dog is called "lazy" and "bad."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Set in the world of auto racing, where sponsorships are plastered everywhere. Continental and Katerra are predominant, plus car brands -- particularly BMW. Ferrari is portrayed as the best. Historical Formula One footage often shows the Marlboro logo. Character takes Bayer aspirin.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Characters seen holding drinks in social settings, but no one is seen drinking. Cigarette manufacturer logo is seen in conjunction with a racing sponsorship, but no one is seen smoking. Sick character takes aspirin frequently.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Art of Racing in the Rain is a very emotional drama told from a dog's point of view. It's based on the best-selling novel by Garth Stein and uses racing analogies to explain how to steer through life's most difficult challenges. That metaphor may connect with teens, but it will likely be lost on younger kids, who may also be upset by the movie's sadder scenes. Spoiler alert : It's not just a dog who dies in this movie, but also the loving mother of a young child, who first suffers a prolonged illness and is shown bald, weak, and vomiting. While the film suggests some beautiful ways to think about death and says that there's nothing to fear, you're still going to cry. Fears of parental separation could also arise for some kids: The villains here are the grandparents who "just want what's best" for their 8-year-old granddaughter, and they use their money, false allegations, and the court system to take her away from her dad. All of that said, the film has fantastic messages about the bumpy road of life, and it shows why dogs are such wonderful support animals. Milo Ventimiglia stars, with Kevin Costner as the voice of his loyal dog, Enzo. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say (7)
• Kids say (25)

Based on 7 parent reviews

Entertaining and Meaningful

What's the story.

Based on Garth Stein's same-named best-selling novel, THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN is about a dog who strives to learn the lessons of humankind in hopes that he'll be reincarnated as a human. Enzo (voiced by Kevin Costner ) relates the story of his life with his human, an aspiring race car driver named Denny Swift ( Milo Ventimiglia ). Enzo stays by Denny's side, sharing Denny's passion for cars and watching as Denny's family grows through his marriage to Eve ( Amanda Seyfried ) and the birth of their daughter, Zoe (Ryan Kiera Armstrong). When the family goes through rough times, grief, and legal battles, Enzo is there, too, observing it all.

Is It Any Good?

This movie doesn't change the increasingly familiar formula of dogs + drama + death, but ( spoiler alert! ) it does wrap up with one of the greatest feel-good endings of all time. Similarly to A Dog's Purpose , a dog narrates the story in The Art of Racing in the Rain , but he's not naive: Enzo is a wise sage who understands everything. In fact, the film is one long narration by the pooch, and Costner's soothing, gravel-edged voice comes off like a beloved grandparent. He envelops viewers like a comfortable blanket but at the same time shells out advice using 50-cent words and sports references -- just like a lecture some grandpas might give.

"Old dog" Enzo also lacks energy -- and so does the film. But it certainly doesn't lack sweetness (or, as the more cynical might put it, sappiness). Denny is a great guy, his friends are supportive, and Eve is so adorably wonderful that you'll want to go follow Seyfried on Instagram to bask in her glow regularly. These are people you'll likely want to be your friends. The only villains here are Eve's wealthy, pragmatic Baby Boomer parents, who will do anything to prove their point. Kathy Baker shines as Eve's conflicted mother, demonstrating relatability that many viewers will appreciate in a situation that seems too cruel to be believable. The screenplay doesn't do Stein's book justice, the advice may not linger after the credits roll, and the story is so sad that it will turn off as many families as it attracts -- but the final moments make your heart overflow with happiness as you realize that's where the whole ride has been taking you.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about what the title of The Art of Racing in the Rain means. How can we "create our own conditions" so that when life "rains," it's just rain and not dangerous and slippery? How did Denny apply that to his own life? How does he demonstrate integrity ?

Talk about loss/death. What do you believe happens when someone, be it a human or an animal, passes away?

How does Enzo use his curiosity about human life to achieve his goal? Do you feel a deeper connection to your pet (or dogs in general) after seeing this film? How did it make you feel when Enzo was called "lazy" and "bad"? How does giving an animal a human voice and thoughts create empathy for that creature?

Enzo is reliant on gestures. How does Enzo communicate with the humans without words? What does he say about human communication and the importance of listening to one another?

The film shows how teamwork is used in real life. How are Denny and Eve a team? How do the people in Denny's world support him and work as a team when times get tough? What is friendship?

Movie Details

• In theaters : August 9, 2019
• On DVD or streaming : November 5, 2019
• Cast : Kevin Costner , Amanda Seyfried , Milo Ventimiglia
• Director : Simon Curtis
• Inclusion Information : Female actors
• Studio : 20th Century Fox
• Genre : Drama
• Topics : Cars and Trucks , Book Characters , Cats, Dogs, and Mice
• Character Strengths : Communication , Curiosity , Empathy , Integrity , Teamwork
• Run time : 109 minutes
• MPAA rating : PG
• MPAA explanation : thematic material
• Last updated : February 18, 2023

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Film Review: ‘The Art of Racing in the Rain’

If 'Marley & Me' was too depressing for you, be warned that 'My Week With Marilyn' director Simon Curtis' heavy-pawed melodrama is engineered to make you weep.

By Peter Debruge

Peter Debruge

Chief Film Critic

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At some point, pretty much everyone who’s owned a dog has stared into the creature’s soulful brown eyes and wondered what it was thinking. Director Simon Curtis ’ decade-in-the-making “ The Art of Racing in the Rain ” is a simple-minded yet skillfully manipulative answer to that question — featuring the bare-feet-in-loose-gravel voice of Kevin Costner as Enzo, the canine companion to Seattle-based race car driver Denny Swift (Milo Ventimiglia) — that’s not as peppy as “A Dog’s Purpose” nor as droll as “Isle of Dogs,” and nowhere near as inane as “Look Who’s Talking Now” but still effective on its own dog-forsaken terms.

This movie’s entire raison d’être is to make you cry, and in that respect, novelist Garth Stein piled on nearly every ploy — from Enzo’s death (it’s signaled right there in the opening scene) to a cancer diagnosis to a custody battle to an impossible reunion — to wring tears from his readers. Faithfully adapting Stein’s well-liked best-seller, screenwriter Mark Bomback maintains the book’s folksy tone, relying more on Enzo’s narration than on conventional dramaturgy to bring the story to life.

The on-screen Enzo is a gorgeous golden retriever, though the attractive-looking movie doesn’t demand much of its dog actors, apart from looking handsome. That allows audiences to project whatever wisdom they please onto the blank-faced animal, while Costner’s voice supplies his personality: earnest, loyal, an old soul in a puppy’s body. Costner is the unseen MVP in this pretty-person ensemble, driving the plot forward as Denny only wishes he could a Formula One speedster. Except for a couple innocent bladder-control problems, Enzo is relatively well-behaved, as are nearly all the characters in a film with all the complexity of a car commercial.

Popular on Variety

The movie introduces Enzo lying in a puddle of his own urine waiting for Denny to come home, in a scene that establishes the idea of wanting to be reborn as a human — and not just any human, but a race car driver like his owner. No prizes for audiences who guess this theme will return, especially after “A Dog’s Purpose” so recently exploited the idea of canine reincarnation. Having seeded its ending from the outset, the movie then flashes back to Enzo’s adoption as an adorable puppy (whose “soul felt more human” than its siblings) by Denny, an impulsive young bachelor and roguish speed racer. When his best friends ask how someone who’s away so often will care for a puppy, Denny shrugs off the question — which, amazingly, the film never requires him to answer.

Rather, it skips ahead to the arrival of Amanda Seyfried’s Eve, an unfamiliar (to Enzo) young woman who infringes on the dog-and-master’s previously codependent relationship. Enzo is slow to accept this blond-haired, lotion-scented intruder, offering a few amusing if a little-too-cutesy observations that Stein presents as the possible — but not very plausible — thoughts of a cautiously jealous pet. At the wedding, Enzo carries the rings down the aisle (it is here that he meets “the twins,” as he mistakenly identifies Eve’s parents, played by Martin Donovan and Kathy Baker), and a short time later, baby Zoe is born.

Stein coaxes easy laughs with malapropisms and canine misassumptions, like Enzo’s tentative curiosity about what was happening “inside Eve’s magic sac, where the baby was being assembled,” which would be fine if he weren’t so preternaturally profound when the screenplay calls for it. As a point of contrast, it’s worth considering two animated projects that more genuinely capture the canine spirit: Pixar’s “Up,” in which Dug’s dog-translating collar reveals how basic its thoughts truly are, and Disney’s Oscar-winning short “Feast,” which traverses a couple’s relationship from the dog’s POV. “The Art of Racing in the Rain,” on the other hand, depends on putting human thoughts in Enzo’s head, while largely ignoring the character’s inherent dog-ness.

At this point, we still don’t know what Denny does with Enzo when he travels, which is strange, since his in-laws’ displeasure at his dangerous and frequently distant career will become the central conflict of the film. (Wouldn’t Enzo have an opinion on this, if he’s also being left alone on every trip?) The night Zoe is born, Denny is having a breakthrough race clear across the country at Daytona Beach. A few years later, during the most crucial moment in his wife’s life, Denny’s again on the road, resulting in Enzo being abandoned for nearly 48 hours. When the dog destroys a playroom full of stuffed animals, there are no consequences, since that would inevitably complicate our feelings toward Denny.

In the real world, it’s not such a crime for a dog owner and husband to leave his family behind on occasion, although the movie affects an exaggerated sense of outrage when Zoe’s grandparents sue Denny for custody of his preteen daughter (Ryan Kiera Armstrong). If this seems like a lot of emotional manipulation to manage, be grateful for the omission of a too-much subplot in which Denny must also face sexual assault allegations raised by a distant relative, where Enzo the dog was the only eyewitness to what really happened. Formerly naive when it suited the tone, Enzo now shows an unusually keen understanding of his master’s complicated legal predicament — aided by years of “Law & Order” reruns — jumping in at the key moment to change the course of the case.

Through it all, Enzo focuses on his ultimate dream: that one day, he would get to race. In a violation akin to marketing “Roma” with photos of the beachside group hug, this movie’s poster has already given away how that desire will resolve itself. Granted, there aren’t a lot of surprises in “The Art of Racing in the Rain.” If anything, knowing — or at least anticipating — how the film’s myriad tragedies will unfold seems to heighten the effect. At the film’s premiere, I found myself surrounded by sobs, which began remarkably early in the story, and would advise those who go looking for catharsis to pack plenty of tissue. Weeping in the rain, the water masks your grief, whereas this movie seems fully committed to making it rain indoors.

Reviewed at El Capitan Theater, Los Angeles, Aug. 1, 2019. MPAA Rating: PG. Running time: 109 MIN.

• Production: A Fox 2000 Pictures presentation, in association with Starbucks Coffee Co., Original Film, Shifting Gears Prods. production. Producers: Neal H. Moritz, Patrick Dempsey, Tania Landau. Executive producers: Donald J. Lee, Jr., Joannie Burstein, James C. France.
• Crew: Director: Simon Curtis. Screenplay: Mark Bomback, based on the novel by Garth Stein. Camera (color): Ross Emery. Music: Dustin O'Halloran, Volker Bertelmann.
• With: Milo Ventimiglia, Amanda Seyfried, Kathy Baker, Martin Donovan, Gary Cole, Kevin Costner.

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The Art of Racing in the Rain Reviews

Here is a film made for that lazy Sunday afternoon that makes you appreciate what you have or long for what you don’t.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Aug 20, 2022

I was excited to see it... it's kind of all over the place in terms of the plot, there's not a lot of tension or conflict.

Full Review | Sep 29, 2021

Though the sugar load jumps high at times, sappiness gets trumped by golden fur and a warm heart. Unless of course, your cynicism levels rank in the Scrooge range.

Full Review | Jul 23, 2021

'The Art of Racing In The Rain' is definitely a family movie that provides plenty of opportunities to talk with kids and teenagers about: life, death, raising children and changes in family dynamics.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4 | Nov 15, 2020

Easily the hardest I have ever cried at a movie. I just wish it was for real, emotional reasons rather than the aggressive application of tried and true heartstring pullers.

Full Review | Mar 17, 2020

[The Art of Racing In the Rain] feels like what might happen if Lars von Trier tried to write a Hallmark movie.

Full Review | Jan 17, 2020

The Art of Racing in the Rain is not a great movie. The plot is bogged down by purposeful tearjerker moments. Only worth a watch if you love dogs and want to cry.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Dec 18, 2019

Ventimiglia is solid and Seyfried, a personal favorite of mine, does a wonderful job as a loving, supportive wife.

Full Review | Original Score: 3.5/5 | Nov 7, 2019

An entertaining film that's light on plot points, "The Art of Racing in the Rain" is the kind of film Walt Disney would make in the late 1950's and early 1960's...

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 5, 2019

Predictable and rote, The Art of Racing in the Rain nevertheless has its heart in the right place, even if there is not much art to it and precious little racing.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Sep 8, 2019

Costner is a pro-dog activist and deeply in love with his own pooches, and he aces his first voiceover role.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5 | Sep 6, 2019

An excruciating, manipulative dose of Lifetime movie emotion delivered through a daily calendar of competitive driving metaphors.

Full Review | Original Score: D | Sep 3, 2019

The Art of Racing in the Rain is a movie that will stir emotion. Milo Ventimiglia and Amanda Seyfried should be applauded for their acting but Kevin Costner steals the show Enzo the dog's voice.

Full Review | Sep 2, 2019

I liked the film very much as it covered a surprising way of feeding us information through Enzo

Full Review | Original Score: 5 | Sep 2, 2019

Not groundbreaking but certainly stronger than most dog movies, 'The Art of Racing in the Rain' delivers a warm-fuzzy story with actual depth.

Full Review | Original Score: C+ | Aug 29, 2019

The Art of Racing in the Rain doesn't offer anything new and it won't become a memorable movie. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 5.5/10 | Aug 26, 2019

Craft can get you to a certain point and no farther, and that point is somewhere in the jungle of mismatched themes and tones that this has the chutzpah to call a screenplay.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Aug 26, 2019

Of all potential careers, this one seems particularly ill-suited to canine ambitions, and a smarter film might have allowed Enzo to question why his owner insists on taking laps in the hardest, costliest, loudest manner imaginable.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/4 | Aug 23, 2019

Full of clichés. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Aug 23, 2019

Director Simon Curtis, who's oeuvre has included a litany of mid-tier drama films like My Week with Marilyn and Goodbye, Christopher Robin is just the right director to process the sappy emotional material at hand into a risk-averse and charming film.

Full Review | Aug 21, 2019

The Art of Racing in the Rain (2019)

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‘the art of racing in the rain’: film review.

Kevin Costner is the voice of the dog-narrator and Milo Ventimiglia is his human in 'The Art of Racing in the Rain,' Simon Curtis’ drama about life, death, family and race cars.

By Caryn James

Caryn James

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Endless expository voiceover by a dog is just as tiresome as wall-to-wall narration by a human, even when that dog has the comforting, raspy voice of Kevin Costner . That’s the lesson of Simon Curtis’ weepy drama. Shaped by a near-constant monologue from a golden retriever named Enzo, The Art of Racing in the Rain is watchable but flat, with only occasional flashes of wit and feeling. 

The dog’s owner, Denny ( Milo Ventimiglia ), an ambitious race car driver, buys him as a pup and names him after racing legend Enzo Ferrari. Enzo becomes the constant observer of his owner’s life as Denny marries, pursues his career and faces family tragedy. 

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Release date: Aug 09, 2019

The dog-thinking-out-loud concept is not the big problem. What the dog says is. His observations are meant to be humorously philosophical, and they have their moments. Enzo watches a documentary about Mongolia and learns that dogs can be reincarnated as humans. He suddenly has a goal. But usually his language is grandiose and dull, such as, “I spent a sleepless night contemplating what Denny had just said.” Contemplating. If you’re going to make a ruminating dog your main character, at least give him clever things to say.

Some of Enzo’s thoughts come directly from the source, Garth Stein’s best-selling novel. But that literary device becomes the dreaded screen convention of narrating what we can see before our eyes.

We’re well into the film before Enzo shuts up for a minute or two, and it’s a relief to hear humans talk to each other, however briefly. Denny is an easy fit for Ventimiglia, who channels his role as Jack on NBC’s This Is Us, the loving family man as everyday hero. Amanda Seyfried ’s gentle performance makes Eve, his endlessly supportive and patient wife, more convincing than the script deserves.

Curtis is known for more sophisticated dramas, including My Week With Marilyn and The Woman in Gold. He has never been the most stylish or innovative director, but he knows what he’s doing, and he accepts his mission here, which is evidently not to get fancy and mess up the commercial property. It’s too bad that he and the screenwriter, Mark Bomback, didn’t let loose more, because there are touches hinting at what a better, more imaginative version might have been. When Denny’s problems land him in court, Enzo is left behind to watch television, and envisions an episode of Law & Order with Denny and the people in his life subbed in for the usual characters. The brief comic sidelight works.

Ross Emery’s cinematography sometimes gives us a dog’s-eye-view looking up, but thankfully that angle is not overused. Puppy Enzo is adorable, old-dog Enzo is quite rightly sad-looking, and the well-trained dog in the middle is just fine. But the film does not rely on the animals’ soulful looks into the camera, as so many dog movies do. Costner does the heavy lifting, and puts a wry spin on whatever lines he can. There’s no attempt to make the brief racing scenes spectacular, but then racing is only a plot device here, and sometimes a cringe-worthy metaphor for life.  

When Eve starts gulping down aspirin for a persistent headache we can guess what’s ahead, but Enzo portentously adds that he smells decay coming from her. The plot takes several turns into melodrama, but it’s effectively done melodrama, with Kathy Baker as Eve’s mother and Martin Donovan as her villainous father. That turn comes too late, though. The Art of Racing in the Rain offers the dog’s version of events, a strategy that is never as cute or as wise as it’s meant to be.

Production companies: Fox 2000 Pictures, Original Film, Shifting Gears Productions Distributor: Disney Cast: Milo Ventimiglia, Amanda Seyfried, Kathy Baker, Martin Donovan, Kevin Costner (voice) Director: Simon Curtis Screenwriter: Mark Bomback Producers: Neal H. Moritz, Patrick Dempsey, Tania Landau Director of photography: Ross Emery Production designer: Brent Thomas Costume designer: Monique Prudhomme Editor: Adam Recht Music: Dustin O’Halloran, Volker Bertelmann

Rated PG, 109 minutes

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10 lengthy fantasy book series & sagas that are totally worth committing to, the 10 best kung fu movie stars of all time, the art of racing in the rain's main conceit wields mixed returns, resulting in a family dramedy that's whimsical and manipulative in equal measure..

Adapted from Garth Stein's best-selling novel, The Art of Racing in the Rain naturally invites comparisons to Marley & Me ; its poster even boasts that it hales "from the studio" behind that very book-turned film. But where the latter is a memoir that explores how a trouble-making dog becomes the grounding force for a family as life chucks one unexpected curveball after another their way, The Art of Racing in the Rain is a fictional narrative about the trials and tribulations of a professional race car driver, as seen (in the movie, sometimes literally) from the perspective of their unique pup. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it's an approach that only partly works when translated to the big screen.  The Art of Racing in the Rain 's main conceit wields mixed returns, resulting in a family dramedy that's whimsical and manipulative in equal measure.

The Art of Racing in the Rain plays out from the point of view of Enzo (whose inner monologue is brought to life via voiceover by Kevin Costner), a Golden Retriever who is purchased as a puppy by Denny (Milo Ventimiglia), a race car instructor and driver with dreams of making it big as a racer. Enzo, however, is not like other dogs and is strongly attuned to the lessons he picks up about not only racing, but life in general from his owner and experiences. Complications eventually ensue when Denny meets Eve (Amanda Seyfried), a teacher whom he falls in love with and marries soon after, in spite of Enzo's wariness towards her. In time, though, the latter comes to appreciate just how fragile life really is, and the ways that everyday existence is just like being on the racetrack.

Written for the screen by Mark Bomback ( The Wolverine , War for the Planet of the Apes ), The Art of Racing in the Rain carries over the broader narrative strokes of Stein's source material - though, thankfully, it abandons the novel's most problematic subplot (one that involves a teenaged girl named Annika) in favor of a melodramatic, but otherwise fitting substitute. Problem is, where the original book takes the time to fill out the smaller, but still important details of Denny and Eve's lives in-between the life-changing events, the movie focuses more on just the "big" moments and comes off feeling all the more contrived for it. Meanwhile, Enzo's narration can be hit or miss when it comes showing what their story is like when filtered through his eyes and voice; it sometimes adds a welcome touch of humor or sadness, while at other times it comes off as merely clunky and awkward. In fairness, though, it's a tricky plot device and might be one that's just better fit for the printed page.

Indeed, The Art of Racing in the Rain has a bad habit of violating that old show-don't-tell rule of cinema and, as a result, all too often feels like a book that's been turned into a movie. That's not to take anything away from the work by Ventimiglia and Seyfried, of course; the pair help to elevate the soapy proceedings here and infuse Denny and Eve with greater depth (even if, at the end of the day, the latter functions more as a plot device than a person). The film's supporting cast is equally sturdy in their parts, with Martin Donovan and Kathy Baker doing their best to bring some additional nuance to Eve's wealthy, disapproving father Maxwell and kind, subservient mother Trish. All the same, "The Twins" (ask Enzo about that one) primarily serve as the antagonists in a greater story thread that only sorta earns its attempt at a heartstrings-tugging payoff.

There's a similar sense of artificiality to the movie's aesthetics. Director Simon Curtis ( Goodbye Christopher Robin ) and his DP Ross Emery ( Woman in Gold ) shoot The Art of Racing in the Rain  in a squeaky-clean fashion and maintain an equally strict family-friendly tone throughout the story, even as its deals with some heavy adult issues and dilemmas. Unfortunately, this approach robs the film of much of its potential flavor, resulting in car racing sequences (yes, both in and out of the rain) that aren't all that enthralling and imagined scenarios - where Enzo is either dreaming about being reincarnated as a human or, in one instance, hallucinating - that come off feeling a bit flat and uninventive in their staging. So, though it's a perfectly handsome adaptation otherwise, the story's fanciful moments especially might've benefitted from some bolder filmmaking choices.

When all is said and done, The Art of Racing in the Rain is simply another case of a much-celebrated book that makes for a just-okay film. Where there are instances where the movie matches the original novel's peculiar sense of poetry, other elements really don't resonate the way they do in literary form. Understandably, however, some viewers will find the film adaptation to be a highly effective tear-jerker, whereas others might be better off sticking with the version they envisioned in their mind while reading the novel (or just reading the novel to begin with). Still, in a year that has already seen a small handful of philosophical, if mawkish, tales about charming doggos hit the big screen, this might be the best of the lot.

The Art of Racing in the Rain  is now playing in U.S. theaters. It is 107 minutes long and is rated PG for thematic material.

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The Art of Racing in the Rain is earnest, floppy-eared family entertainment

A dog’s biology is a human’s tragedy: They eat, play, love, and then they die; we go on. The Art of Racing in the Rain gets that out of the way in the first scene, when we see Enzo, his muzzle gray and his tail too tired to thump anymore, flopped down on a doormat. His owner, race-car driver Denny Swift ( This Is Us ’ Milo Ventimiglia ), picks him up gently; the music swells.

Has some evil projectionist switched the reels? Can this really already be the end of Enzo? But no, Rain is just running a preliminary stress test on our tear ducts, so that it can begin to do what these movies are supposed to do — cut straight to a waggish litter of sweet cinnamon-colored nuggets, and watch its audience let out a collective sigh of relief: puppies! Then the story (based on Garth Stein’s best-selling 2008 novel of the same name ) can get back to the business of celebrating man’s best friend for a good 90 minutes before the grim four-legged reaper returns.

As Enzo (voiced by a confiding, gravelly Kevin Costner ) frolics and grows and learns to pee in designated areas, Denny falls in love with a pretty teacher ( Amanda Seyfried ), gets married, and starts a family; he tries to rise on the racing circuit, but keeps falling just short of the big leagues. Then more sad and happy things happen — things that Enzo, with his gruff inner monologue and his non-opposable thumbs, can only share with the people sitting on the other side of this celluloid.

Rain is not a bad movie, really, and it doesn’t sell itself as anything other than earnest, floppy-eared family entertainment. But there’s a gooey out-of-time feeling to the whole thing that a lot of films like these seem to have — a sentimental IV drip that steadily manipulates heartstrings without ever quite touching anything like true life. There may be moments of hurt and betrayal and even anger in the script, but the only real mess is one Enzo strategically leaves on the carpet, and that’s played strictly for laughs.

So come for the friction-free, scrubbed-clean storytelling, the zen koans about racing and manifesting and loyalty; stay for the series of very good boys (Parker, Butler, Solar, and Orbit among them) who play Enzo. It’s all kibble in the end, but you knew that coming in. B–

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‘The Art of Racing In the Rain’ Review: A New Dog Gets Up to Some Old Tricks

By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

Author Garth Stein fired a literary agent who rejected his idea of creating an entire novel from the perspective of a dog. After said novel, The Art of Racing in the Rain , spent 156 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list following its 2008 debut, Stein had the last laugh. Now the novel is a movie, with the same title and the same perspective. No doubt there will be cynical moviegoers who’ll side with Stein’s agent about talking-pooch stories. But those in thrall to all things canine will surely cut some slack to the big-screen version of The Art of Racing in the Rain , with Kevin Costner , of all gruff megastars, doing the voice of a dog who longs to be human. Sure, it’s a tearjerker — often shamelessly so — but that probably won’t hurt the box-office. Marley and Me , another doggie weepie adapted from a bestseller, grossed nearly $250 million worldwide. A Dog’s Purpose also hit the jackpot, along with the likes of Benji , Beethoven , The Lady and the Tramp , Old Yeller and Isle of Dogs .

Audiences for The Art of Racing in the Rain know who they are — animal-loving suckers whose lips tremble at the thought of a golden retriever acting human. The minute that Seattle-based, aspiring Formula One driver Denny Swift (Milo Ventimiglia) locks eyes on the pup he adopts and names Enzo (after Italian auto tycoon Enzo Ferrari), he’s a goner. It’s Enzo who narrates the film in a voice only the audience can hear. You’ll be pleased to know that Costner rarely lays on the sentiment too thick.

The movie’s life lessons can be hard to take. Luckily, Ventimiglia — on a deserved third Emmy nomination for playing the doomed father Jack Pearson on This Is Us — brings sincerity and welcome humor to Denny, as Enzo gets caught up in plot complications laid on by screenwriter Mark Bomback ( The Wolverine , Outlaw King ). It helps that director Simon Curtis ( My Week With Marilyn , Goodbye Christopher Robin ) is adept at dodging the worst clichés, as Enzo faces competition for Denny’s love from Eve (the excellent Amanda Seyfried), the woman he marries, and their daughter Zoe (Ryan Kiera Armstrong). When illness enters the picture (doesn’t it always?), Denny must fight for his rights in court against Eve’s singularly annoying parents, played by Martin Donovan and Kathy Baker.

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When the movie stalls, it’s Enzo to the rescue. Since the film covers a decade in the lives of its characters, two dogs take turns playing Enzo, at age 2 and 9. They’re both picks of the litters. And Ventimiglia contributes an emotional honesty that serves him well even when the plot sinks into marshmallow. Enzo teaches himself about the world by taking careful notice of Denny at the track, sitting beside him at home watching videos of important races, and taking in a TV documentary about Mongolia, where Enzo dreams of spending his final days before transitioning into a human. Enzo speaks his heart only to us about wishing Denny, just once, would drive him around the track, the wind blowing through his fur. Through observing Denny, Enzo knows that racing can teach him about battling adversity and practicing patience in case you’re driving, er, in the rain. Corny? Yes. But still endearing. As for the hound-haters who’d prefer to stream Stephen King’s Cujo , about a rabid St. Bernard who’d rip Enzo’s heart out, you’re not listening to this movie’s message about racing against your prejudices. How do you live with yourselves?

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The Art of Racing in the Rain review – a canine car crash

Kevin Costner voices a golden retriever who inspires a would-be racing driver in this bizarre film

I t’s hard to wrap your head around the demented logic that spawned a film as crazily unwieldy as this. People like winsome golden retriever pups is presumably the thinking here. And they like motor racing. Let’s shove them together in a movie that also muses on reincarnation, sports psychology, custody issues and brain cancer. Oh, and let’s have the whole thing narrated by Kevin Costner , playing a dog. And let’s cover it with branding for a well-known Italian luxury car company. Simon Curtis (My Week With Marilyn) directs, and the screenplay was adapted from a book by Garth Stein, so perhaps he’s the demonic zebra plush toy in this scenario. Did I mention there’s also a demonic zebra plush toy in the movie? There is.

The film stars Milo Ventimiglia, who is handsome in a kind of glossy, unchallenging way, like a nice piece of well-put-together luggage. He plays Denny, an aspiring racing driver who buys a puppy on a whim and christens it Enzo. “Call it fate. Call it luck.” Costner gives Enzo a gravel-blasted rumble of a voice that makes him sound more like a chain-smoking dive bar derelict than a retriever. “All I know is I was meant to be his dog.”

The jealous bond between pup and his man is tested when Denny meets Eve (Amanda Seyfried). But Eve shows the kind of loyalty usually reserved for canine companions, and spends most of her scenes urging Denny never to give up on his dreams of motor racing stardom. It’s laughably contrived and shamelessly calculating. Dog’s bollocks, but not in a good way.

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Summary Based on the best-selling novel by Garth Stein, THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN is a heartfelt tale narrated by a witty and philosophical dog named Enzo (voiced by Kevin Costner). Through his bond with his owner, Denny Swift (Milo Ventimiglia), an aspiring Formula One race car driver, Enzo, a philosophical (voiced by Kevin Costner), has ga ... Read More

Directed By : Simon Curtis

Written By : Mark Bomback, Garth Stein

The Art of Racing in the Rain

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Milo ventimiglia, jackie minns, mrs. spangle, marcus hondro, mr. spangle, andres joseph, donald heng, sean wright, peter ciuffa, matthew kevin anderson, fox sports reporter, amanda seyfried, kathy baker, martin donovan, reva dexter, justice of the peace, kasia machelak, nicole anthony, 3-year-old zoë, ryan kiera armstrong, fernanda alcantara, critic reviews.

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The Art of Racing in the Rain

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In Theaters

• August 9, 2019
• Milo Ventimiglia as Denny Swift; Amanda Seyfried as Eve Swift; Kathy Baker as Trish; Martin Donovan as Maxwell; Gary Cole as Don Kitch; McKinley Belcher III as Mark Finn; Ryan Kiera Armstrong as Young Zoe; Kevin Costner as the voice of Enzo

Home Release Date

• November 5, 2019
• Simon Curtis

Distributor

• 20th Century Fox

Movie Review

Dogs can do a lot of things better than we can. Most can see better. Hear better. Smell way better.

But we’ve still got the edge in driving automobiles, and that must steam a pooch named Enzo something fierce.

Enzo (the dog) was named after Enzo Ferarri (the founder of the legendary Italian sports car company). His owner, Denny Swift, races cars whever he can—and when he’s not racing, he’s teaching other folks how to race. Enzo follows Denny to the track whenever he can, watching his master and his car curl around the raceway like a sprinting gazelle. Enzo’s paws aren’t quite up to grasping a steering wheel (curse those opposable thumbs!), but he loves the racing so much he might as well bleed motor oil. The only thing the pooch digs more than racing is¬, well, Denny.

But as any racing enthusiast knows—even if he’s just a Formula 1-loving Fido—the track of life comes with a few curves.

Denny meets Eve outside a grocery store, and Enzo knows instantly the woman’s gonna be a distraction. No more nights of Denny and Enzo sharing snacks in front of the TV: Now, suddenly, he’s eating with her at the table ! They’re going on walks together! And while Denny and Eve may share a few commonalities—their inefficient bipedal walks, for instance—she certainly doesn’t understand Denny’s racing. Not like Enzo.

But no matter. The two humans get married and, before too long, another bit of humanity enters Enzo’s life. Zoe’s a tiny little thing. Utterly useless, really, with her wriggling and crying and complete inability to fetch a simple tennis ball. Still, Enzo can’t help but like the little squealer.

In fact, the dog eventually takes a shine to almost everyone in Denny’s orbit. Denny, after all, is the smartest, strongest, bestest human in the whole wide world. Anyone who Denny loves must be worth loving.

So when Enzo detects a strange scent on Eve—a scent of “decay, like rotting wood”—the dog wishes like crazy he could speak. He wants, desperately, to warn Eve. Warn Denny.

If life is a racetrack, this smell would represent a terrible road hazard that no one will see until it’s just too late. And if Denny’s not careful, they’ll crash.

Positive Elements

“I know no better man than Denny,” narrator Enzo tells us. And because we see the guy mainly through Enzo’s eyes, Denny seems like a great guy indeed.

Denny is defined by his love—for his wife, his child, his dog, his sport. Denny loves Eve and tenderly cares for her when she gets sick. He adores his daughter. And when he’s called on, essentially, to be a single dad, Denny works his way through all the pitfalls of that new (and he hopes temporary) responsibility. Even when Denny suffers deeply, he always pushes through—giving Zoe the strength, stability and joy that she needs. He forgives a couple of people who’ve deeply wronged him, too, for the sake of his family.

And though Denny loves racing cars—and, Eve says, was really made to do just that—he shows a willingness to sacrifice that side of himself if it means caring better for his wife and daughter. It’s Eve, in fact, who often has to push him to race and pursue his goals.

But really, it’s Denny’s relationship with Enzo that defines this movie. And Enzo returns that love tenfold.

Through Enzo’s very human narration, we learn that Enzo’s in no way just a “dumb dog.” When Eve’s in the hospital and Denny’s struggling to push on, Enzo takes his leash-in-mouth and practically presses it in Denny’s hand—a not-so-gentle hint to take a run. Their runs together prove to be a foundation of Denny’s continued mental health. And when an exhausted Denny—overwhelmed with financial, legal and relational difficulties—lies on a couch with Zoe and seems close to despair, Enzo hands him a TV remote. That might not look like much, but Denny sometimes needs that distraction—particularly watching old car races on the screen. This rerun was especially timely: A replay of a famous contest in which the winner took the checkered flag with just two gears intact. It’s not hard for Denny to see the parallels in his own life.

Indeed, throughout the film, both Enzo and the sport of racing offer philosophical bon mots on how to live well and earnestly: “No race is won in the first corner, but many have been lost there,” goes one. “There is no dishonor in losing the race,” begins another; “There is only dishonor in not racing because you are afraid to lose.”

Spiritual Elements

The Art of Racing in the Rain is a surprisingly spiritual film—albeit one that leans toward Eastern mysticism more than Christian theology. Still, it’s quite insistent that the soul goes on after death. In that way, you could say that this dog film is a bit … dogmatic?

Enzo’s own dogma includes a belief in reincarnation. He watches a documentary on Mongolia and learns that people in that country revere their dogs (burying them on top of high hills so no one will walk on their graves, for instance), in part because they believe that some dogs come back as humans in their next lives. Enzo figures he’s just about there: He might not be able to speak or walk on two feet yet, but his soul is close to human, and one more dog life ought to push him over the top. And at the end, the movie itself seems to tip its hand and tell us that Enzo’s probably right. (And Denny believes so, too.)

When Enzo talks about a fatal race crash, he says that the person who died wasn’t killed by a random piece of debris, as doctors believe. Rather, “his body had served its purpose. His soul had done what it came to do, learned what it came to learn, and then he was free to leave.”

Eve, while sick, confides to Enzo that she’s not afraid of death anymore. “I know it’s not the end,” she says. “But you know that, don’t you?” And when Eve does pass on, Enzo tells us that he saw her soul actually leave her body.

If the movie has an antagonist, it’s a zebra—first in the form of one of Zoe’s stuffed animals. Enzo takes to calling it a “demon” and is determined to protect his family from its diabolical influence. (In the original book by Garth Stein, Enzo later realizes that the zebra/demon isn’t something “outside of us,” but rather our own fears and weaknesses and self-destructive natures. “The demon is us!” he declares in the novel.)

We hear some fleeting references to heaven and hell. Enzo (and others) express a lot of faith that they’re doing what the universe wants them to do. Enzo, for instance, is positive he was meant to be Denny’s dog.

Sexual Content

Denny and Eve kiss often, and we see them in bed together before the two get married. (They’re snuggling and wrestling a bit; Denny’s shirtless and Eve’s dressed in her PJ’s, and it’s clear that she spent the night.) Enzo admits he can see why Denny would be attracted to her and her “plump buttocks” (as the camera zooms in on her jeans-covered derrierre).

We see Eve wrapped only in a towel after the two get married. She opens up her towel to a mirror she’s staring at (we don’t see anything), admiring her now-barely-pregnant body. (We see a used pregnancy test on the counter.) After Eve gets sick, we see her bare shoulders from the back.

Violent Content

Racing automobiles is a dangerous profession, and we hear about car crashes, both in the distant and more recent past. Eve’s parents, especially her father, sometimes talk about how dangerous the sport is, and Eve admits to Denny once that she can barely watch when he’s racing in the rain.

Eve collapses in the forest. Someone falls and breaks a rib. We later hear that he almost broke his wrist, too. His assailant is accused of fourth-degree assault. Enzo—who’s been left at home without food for a couple of days—hallucinates that Zoe’s stuffed zebra springs to life. The plush toy stabs another stuffed animal, then opens his own stuffing-filled chest cavity up and starts pulling the fluff out of himself. Later, when the family returns, Zoe’s room is littered with dismembered toys and white stuffing.

[ Spoiler warning ] Enzo is hit by a car. And while he survives, he’s never quite the same.

Crude or Profane Language

Two uses of the word “h—,” and about seven misuses of God’s name. Jesus’ name is abused once.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Eve and Denny drink beers with a couple of Denny’s friends. Eve’s father, Maxwell, makes and consumes a couple of martinis.

Other Negative Elements

Enzo says that humans have always been “unusually interested in my bathroom habits,” and we see plenty of those habits here. As a puppy, he wets on Denny’s floor. As an old dog, he lies in a pool of his own urine because he can’t get up. And then, when he’s left alone for days—trapped in Eve’s and Denny’s home with no place to (literally) go—he relieves himself on the back-door mat.

But he does unleash a bit of angry poo at Eve’s parents’ house. Enzo encourages Maxwell (who does not get along with Denny) to feed him part of a pepper—a veggie Enzo knows full well is terrible for his tummy. His bowels soon release all over the nice, white rug that Maxwell and wife, Trish, just had shampooed. (We see the resulting ooky mess.)

Eve gets really, really sick one evening when Denny’s away: We hear her vomit several times in the kitchen sink (much to the alarm of both Enzo and 7-year-old Zoe). Enzo discusses a tapeworm he once had. Eve’s father can be a real jerk.

The Art of Racing in the Rain , based on the bestselling book by Garth Stein, has a lot going for it: A strong cast, positive messages, a sweet story and a PG rating—a rare thing indeed these days. It almost seems like it was made for Plugged In to say, “Hey, what a great family movie. Go watch.”

This Disney movie (released under the auspices of its newly acquired adjunct, 21st Century Fox) translates much of the book’s original humor, beauty and sometime profundity. But it also translates its sense of spirituality, too—one that steers afoul of orthodox Christianity. Things get real murky real fast. For Christian parents trying to help teach their kids the nuances of their own faith, the introduction of this very different, and unfettered, belief system might make Racing in the Rain a scratch at the starting line.

But for families willing to take on the movie’s counter-Christian spirituality—to address it openly and use it as a springboard to talk about what other people around the world believe—this pic holds some promise.

The Art of Racing in the Rain refers to Denny’s ability to, you guessed it, race in the rain. That’s not easy to do, on the track or off it. Sometimes we imagine that our lives will be perpetually sunny—that God will protect us from the world’s worst storms. But as most of us know, that isn’t the case. Most of our lives will suffer their share of downpours. And perhaps we don’t prepare our children as well as we should for those.

Enzo tells us that, in the worst of conditions, the below-average drivers crash. The average drivers quit. But great drivers? Drivers like Denny? They push through and push on. It takes patience and courage and even grace to persevere. And that—setting aside the movie’s other problems—isn’t a bad life lesson.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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‘The Art of Racing in the Rain’ Review: Smart Dog, Dumb Movie

A dog that thinks like a person. Where’s the fun in that?

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By Teo Bugbee

At first glance, the feeble tear-jerker “The Art of Racing in the Rain” seems to be a movie made for dog lovers. It is told from the perspective of a dog, a beautiful if inexpressive golden retriever named Enzo. But in a twist that undermines the simple-minded sweetness that makes dogs (and dog movies) so appealing, Enzo is not like other pups. He thinks like a person — pondering subjects like death and reincarnation — and he also dreams of being human.

The movie begins when Enzo is already long in the tooth and speaking with the gravelly monotone of Kevin Costner. Narrating his life story in retrospect, Enzo recalls being adopted as a puppy by a racecar driver named Denny (Milo Ventimiglia). As Denny’s companion, Enzo has borne loyal witness to his master’s life, and the film observes Denny through Enzo’s adoring eyes. Enzo is by Denny’s side as he falls in love and marries a kindly teacher, Eve (Amanda Seyfried), and he is steadfast when Denny’s domestic bliss is tested by illness and in-laws.

Through it all, Enzo longs to guide Denny with words as humans do. Although Enzo claims to hold people in high regard, there’s no one in Denny’s life he deems a more worthy counselor than himself. It’s this moral superiority obtained from two feet above the ground that makes Enzo — and the film that indulges this conceit — so intolerable. He’s a scold, a snob and a suck-up all at once. Yet the treacly script valorizes Enzo, and the director, Simon Curtis, submits to it, trusting that the audience will want to see man’s best friend presented in such an earnest fashion. But Enzo is a bad dog, and his antics play worse for the film’s lack of discipline.

The Art of Racing in the Rain

Rated PG for bathroom humor and references to cancer. Running time: 1 hour 49 minutes.

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‘The Art of Racing in the Rain’ review: Dig those adorable doggy close-ups

Movie review.

“I feel as though I’d lived for an eternity,” says an aging golden retriever voiced by Kevin Costner (a phrase I never thought I’d type), late in “The Art of Racing in the Rain.” I hear you, doggy. This very earnest movie, based on Seattle author Garth Stein’s bestselling 2008 novel (adapted, at times awkwardly, by Mark Bomback), is well under two hours but still feels endless. If “golden retriever voiced by Kevin Costner” rings any alarm bells for you, steer clear.

For those bravely reading on: “The Art of Racing in the Rain” is a story told from the point of view of Enzo the dog, who is so noble he really deserves a better actor to voice him (oh, I don’t know, maybe Daniel Day-Lewis?), and a better world in general. Enzo’s people are race-car driver Denny (Milo Ventimiglia), his wife Eve (Amanda Seyfried), and their young daughter Zoe (Ryan Kiera Armstrong), all of whom are exceptionally nice and all of whom suffer misfortunes so terrible you wonder if that dog brought them some sort of curse.

One plot thread, involving a rape accusation, is changed dramatically from the book, presumably to make the movie more family friendly. Those dramas that remain — involving fatal diseases, evil in-laws, questionable legal machinations, late-night car accidents, and the inevitable life cycle of faithful dogs — play out very slowly, under Simon Curtis’ direction, in a picture-pretty “Seattle” that’s mostly Vancouver, B.C. (A few scenes were shot at Pacific Raceways near Kent.)

The actors are likable — or, in the case of Martin Donovan as Denny’s father-in-law, skilled at playing cartoonish villains. But “The Art of Racing in the Rain” mostly feels like a sentimental slog, punctuated by (admittedly adorable) very long close-ups of Enzo’s handsome doggy face while Costner, all raspy and folksy, intones lines like “I was meant to be his dog.” For some, it’s movie comfort food — there was definitely some sniffling at the preview screening I attended — but the rest of us might be happier staying home with our pets, imagining who might best voice them. My cat, for the record, sounds like Sandra Bullock in my imagination; but that’s another movie, for another day.

★★ “ The Art of Racing in the Rain ,” with Milo Ventimiglia, Kevin Costner, Amanda Seyfried, Martin Donovan, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Kathy Baker, Gary Cole. Directed by Simon Curtis, from a screenplay by Mark Bomback, based on the novel by Garth Stein. 105 minutes. Rated PG for thematic material. Multiple theaters.

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What Parents Need To Know About 'The Art Of Racing In The Rain'

The Art of Racing In The Rain is definitely a family movie that definitely provides plenty of opportunities to talk about important topics with kids.

Based off of the very popular book written by Garth Stein, The Art of Racing In The Rain is definitely a family movie that definitely provides plenty of opportunities to talk about: life, death, raising children and changes in family dynamics. Under the direction of Simon Curtis, this movie not only highlights the effects that humans have on dogs, but also the positive effects that a pet can have in the lives of humans as well. In The Art of Racing In The Rain there are many positive life lessons that can be applied not just to the lives of adults, but to the lives of teenagers and smaller children as well.

The main storyline centers on Enzo (voiced by Kevin Costner), a mature, introspective Golden retriever who greatly desires to be a human and who has a love and respect for his owner, Denny Swift (Milo Ventimiglia). Denny is an aspiring Formula One race car who does not always win the race, but he’s always willing to take the risk of winning. This very notion is one of the most powerful anecdotes within the film. It’s okay to lose or experience the loss, but you must be willing to get back in the race and take a risk again.

The movie is narrated from the perspective of Enzo, and it is endearing. This depiction of a dog with deep feelings lends itself towards children having more empathy and compassion for dogs and animals in general. In The Art of Racing In the Rain , Denny falls in love with Eve (Amanda Seyfried) and they birth a daughter Zoe (Ryan Kiera Armstrong) and all is well until there is an unexpected loss and the dynamic of family and life as they know it begins to change.

Parents need to know that there is a death in the movie and great loss, but the screenplay is written so well that watching the experience of this family onscreen will gift parents and guardians with the choice to further discuss: the benefits of appreciating your family while they are alive, what a family is and ways to strengthen family relations.

There is also family tension in the movie. There are in-laws who are somewhat controlling and unfair in their expectations of Denny as a race car driver. Within the movie, parents will see the benefits of having positive adult friendships, because on many occasions Denny has to rely on his friends to help him with Enzo as well as his daughter Zoe.

In this movie, both a human and a dog exude positive character traits. As a pet, Enzo is loyal, dependent, caring, nurturing and a friend to Denny, Eve and Zoe. Denny shows loyalty not just to his dog Enzo, but to his wife and his daughter. Denny also personifies that it is okay to get back in the race after circumstances in life try and knock you down.

The Art of Racing In the Rain is a simple, yet beautiful film that delicately presents the not so pretty moments in life. The film also shows that animals have feelings too. While the film is rated PG, there are some moments where adults, teenagers and kids may cry. However, there will surely be moments when you smile and your heart will be full of laughter.

The cast includes: The film cast includes: Kevin Costner, Milo Ventimiglia, Amanda Seyfried, Gary Cole, Kathy Baker, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Martin Donovan, McKinley Belcher III

The film is produced by: The film is produced by Joannie Burstein, Patrick Dempsey, Tania Landau and Neil H. Moritz.

The Art of Racing In The Rain is rated PG, has a running time of 109 minutes. The Art of Racing In The Rain premieres nationwide on August 9 th , 2019.

READ NEXT:  REVIEW: 'The Art of Racing In The Rain'

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The Art of Racing in the Rain | 2019 | PG | – 3.4.1

The Art of Racing in the Rain SEX/NUDITY 3

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Pirates pitching phenom Paul Skenes lives up to the hype in wild, rain-delayed debut

The pirates topped the cubs 10-9 in a game that offered a reminder that skenes alone cannot save pittsburgh.

PITTSBURGH — It poured in the Steel City for the better part of Saturday. First rain, then walks and runs, then rain again.

But for Paul Skenes, and for Paul Skenes only, the sun shined in Pittsburgh.

Skenes, the best pitching prospect in the world, was both dominant and rusty in his highly anticipated major-league debut. His flashes of brilliance electrified an antsy PNC Park crowd. His premature departure angered it. The final line — four innings, three runs, seven strikeouts — doesn’t tell the whole story. Skenes, on a strict pitch limit, was very good. His fellow Pittsburgh pitchers were not.

Immediately after Skenes departed in the fifth, a trio of Pirates relievers implausibly transformed a 6-1 lead into a 8-6 deficit before escaping the inning. They surrendered six bases-loaded walks. The baseball never left the infield. In the middle of that endless, historically embarrassing frame: a 2-hour, 20-minute rain delay. It all made for an unforgettably bizarre day and night of baseball, one the Pirates eventually won 10-9 , 5 hours and 16 minutes after it began.

“I don't think I've ever seen anything like that,” drenched Pirates skipper Derek Shelton exhaled after the final out.

Before all the mayhem, a steady spring shower threatened to dampen the proceedings. Through most of Saturday morning, ahead of the most hyped Pirates game in years, Pittsburgh was drenched. Until two hours before first pitch, raindrops pattered the enormous tarp protecting PNC Park’s infield dirt. Even Mother Nature, it seemed, wanted to keep the Pirates faithful away from anything resembling optimism.

But 90 minutes before game time, the downpour stopped. Members of the Pirates grounds crew hurried to remove the tarp and prepare the field. Pittsburgh’s picturesque skyline, nestled beautifully behind the outfield fence, revealed itself. Fans streamed into the yard. Upbeat pop blared from the stadium speakers. The MLB debut of Paul Skenes was a go.

At exactly 3:22 p.m. ET, a warm ray of sun ripped through the gray canvas of Allegheny cloud. Moments later, like a scene from a corny Hallmark movie, Skenes emerged from the Pirates dugout shining and resplendent in his crisp, white home uniform. In his right hand, a black ballglove with gold trim. In his left, a bag of contraptions and weighted balls for his warm-up routine. Flanked by a procession of cameras, the 6-foot-6, 235-pound hurler strolled across the outfield grass toward the home bullpen and into the light.

Another storm gathered on the horizon, one that would eventually derail the day, but the crowd couldn’t know the future. They roared in satisfaction; they had waited long enough.

Skenes' arrival was crowned with a level of hype both irresponsible and understandable. Generationally talented 21-year-olds are still 21. Both Shelton and general manager Ben Cherington sought to manage expectations during their pregame remarks. But their suggestions meant little to the 34,000-plus who came out to experience something they hoped to remember.

Drafted first overall in the 2023 MLB Draft, Skenes rocketed up the minor leagues faster than any No. 1 pick in more than 30 years. Built like a moose, propelled by the tenacity of a pitbull and armed with a triple-digit fastball, Skenes eviscerated hitters across 27 2/3 innings for Triple-A Indianapolis. Fans and prognosticators alike pined for a call-up. And with each minor-league start, the calls grew louder .

Eventually the Pirates, pushed by the sheer excellence of Skenes’ minor-league numbers, relented. The team announced Wednesday that their golden child would be promoted to make his big-league debut on Saturday against Chicago .

Considering the circumstances, Skenes showed well. He punched out the first two hitters he faced and took the third, Cody Bellinger , to 0-2 before walking him. A deep fly ball from Christopher Morel closed the frame. Over his four innings, the Cubs punched out seven times against Skenes, whiffing 14 times on 40 swings. Spotty fastball command put Skenes behind in some counts, but his 95 mph “splinker” helped him escape mostly unscathed.

In the fourth, Nico Hoerner lofted a middle-away slider into the left-field bleachers on a solo shot, which looked like it would be the only blemish on Skenes’ record after he punched out Yan Gomes to end the frame. Then all hell broke loose.

Skenes allowed two hits to begin the fifth. Buccos skipper Derek Shelton made the slow trudge, under a hailstorm of boos, to remove his phenom from the game. In came Kyle Nicolas , who recorded two quick outs before plunking Ian Happ to load the bases. Nicolas then proceeded to toss 12 consecutive balls, walking in three Cub runs — two of which were charged to Skenes — before Shelton yanked him. In came Josh Fleming , and in came two more Cubs, one on another walk and the next on an infield dribbler single to tie the game.

And that’s when the heavens opened up. A torrential downpour paused the game, sending a bedraggled Pirates club back to their locker room. Scores of fans raced to shelter. Many left the yard, slogging through the wet across the Clemente Bridge to their cars and homes.

Skenes, who had remained in the dugout to watch the end of the inning, walked alone up the flight of stairs that leads to the PNC Park tunnel and down to the home clubhouse, in one hand a black glove with gold trim, in the other those small bags of pregame bric-a-brac. His debut had come and gone.

Paul Skenes strikes out 7 in his first career start! pic.twitter.com/4WIqGRjgSf — MLB (@MLB) May 11, 2024

After the rain delay, the Pirates would, eventually, somehow, win the ballgame, despite allowing two more runs in the top of that eternal fifth inning Skenes started. In the bottom half of the frame, catcher Yasmani Grandal cranked a go-ahead, three-run homer to give Pittsburgh a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. Pirates talisman Andrew McCutchen added a solo smash for good measure. Hometown closer David Bednar did enough to secure the save. Fireworks erupted with the final out.

None of it seemed to faze the comically monotone Skenes, who nonchalantly proclaimed in his postgame interview that he was just “glad we got a win.”

And that’s the thing about Skenes, cliché as it sounds: He is here to win.

Those who know him from his days at the Air Force Academy speak to his intense drive and determination to succeed. In his one season at LSU, he started 19 games and lost just once. Multiple times during interviews, Skenes has prioritized “winning a World Series” over any personal accomplishment. This is a serious person, one not content with mediocrity.

But the Big Moose cannot single-handedly carry Pittsburgh to sustained competence, let alone contention. Fellow rookie Jared Jones has shined so far this season, and the Pirates are still 6.5 games out of first in the NL Central, with a minus-26 run differential.

Fans remain skeptical of the Cherington regime, citing a lack of obvious progress in the standings. But the culture of losing extends back much further than this organization's tenure. Only the Royals, who won a title in 2015, have lost more games this century than Pittsburgh, and the Pirates are the only team without a League Championship Series appearance in the wild-card era (1994). Their 9-2 start this year evaporated in a flash when the offense went ice cold.

It all means that even if Skenes lives up to the hype, the Pirates face a difficult climb back to October. And so, the future in Pittsburgh is both bright and cloudy. There is reason to expect sun and rain. Saturday had both, only because Paul Skenes moved the clouds.

It won’t be the last time.

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Justin Allgaier uses dominant run at Darlington to win first Xfinity race of the season

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DARLINGTON, S.C. (AP) — Justin Allgaier used a dominating performance on Saturday to win his first Xfinity race of the season and the third of his career at Darlington Raceway.

Allgaier led 119 of 147 laps, sweeping both stages as he finished ahead of Austin Hill and defending series champion Cole Custer.

Allgaier moved past Hill early in the second stage and never gave up the lead, staying in front for the final 95 laps.

“I think having a little gray hair today really helped me out, though, with those long green-flag runs,” the 37-year-old Allgaier said. “Being able to know what’s worked in the past here.”

The run ended a frustrating season so far for Allgaier, who had been in contention many times this year only to come up short of the checkered flag. He had a flat tire while leading with five laps left at Phoenix in March. Last month at Dover, Allgaier’s fast car ended 17th as the team’s strategy in the rain backfired.

“To have the speed that we’ve had week in and week out and to just not be able to put it all together. It seems we’ve failed miserably on the execution side,” Allgaier said. “Today was anything but that.”

Allgaier said his team’s pit stops were stellar and he was able get back to the track in prime position to stay out front.

“What I saw today was execution by every person that’s a part of the (No. 7) team,” he said.

Only two of the five cautions in the race were for accidents — and they proved to be Allgaier’s trickiest moments.

The first came with 39 laps to go after Hailie Deegan wrecked and the other came with 16 laps left when Kyle Sieg spun out. Allgaier sped off from the field both times and cruised to his 24th career Xfinity victory to equal the total of JR Motorsports owner Dale Earnhardt Jr.

Allgaier’s win also gave him a series-best 267 top 10s, breaking a tie with all-time series wins leader Kyle Busch.

Allgaier also moved up in Darlington history, his three wins here tying for fifth with the late Dale Earnhardt, Matt Kenseth and Geoff Bodine.

Sam Mayer, Allgaier’s JR Motorsports teammate, finished fourth and AJ Allmendinger fifth.

Hill, who was runner-up to Denny Hamlin in last September’s Xfinity race at Darlington, blamed himself for another second-place showing.

“I just couldn’t get into Turn 1 on restarts like I really needed to all day and I think a lot of it’s just me,” Hill said. “I’ve just got to figure out what to do differently.”

Three-time Cup Series winner William Byron was the biggest name in the field and figured to contend at a track where several from the sports’ top series have won before. But Byron’s chance ended when he hit the wall early in the race.

A bad pit stop left him three laps down less than 15 laps in, and he ended up finishing 11th.

The series takes next week off before resuming at Charlotte Motor Speedway on May 26.

AP NASCAR: https://apnews.com/hub/nascar-racing

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Ipl 2024: kolkata become first team to qualify for the playoffs after defeating mumbai in rain-shortened match, spinner varun chakravarthy stars as the knight riders booked the coveted spot with am18-run win over the former five-time champions in a rain-reduced match at eden gardens.

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Published: Sat 11 May 2024, 11:58 PM

Spinner Varun Chakravarthy returned bowling figures of 2-17 as Kolkata Knight Riders booked their play-off spot with an 18-run win over Mumbai Indians in a rain-reduced IPL match.

Two-time champions Kolkata posted 157-7 as Venkatesh Iyer top-scored with 42 off 21 balls after being invited to bat first at their home Eden Gardens in a 16-overs-a-side match.

Bowlers combined to defend the total after Mumbai raced to 65-0 and Chakravarthy, a mystery spinner, got the big wickets of Rohit Sharma, who made 19 after coming in as impact substitute, and skipper Hardik Pandya, who was caught out for two.

Five-time winners Mumbai, who are already out of the play-off race, finished on 139-8 as Tilak Varma hit a 17-ball 32 before he fell to fast bowler Harshit Rana, who took two wickets in the last over.

Pace bowler Andre Russell also took two wickets, including that of Suryakumar Yadav, as table-toppers Kolkata got their ninth win in 12 matches to become the first team to book a play-off berth.

The top four teams will make the play-offs with the final on May 26 in Chennai.

"We knew the wicket was sticky and that there was a bit for the spinners," said MI's Andre Russell. "Knew it was a good score with our spin attack. We knew there was a big boundary too and tried using it.

“Our bowlers have won it.

“We have youngsters who want to learn, which makes it easier for seniors. We always have a group around us. This is the love and passion, which is why we're doing so well," he added.

Five-time champions Mumbai Indians became the first team to be knocked out of IPL 2024 and Hardik Pandya commented: “Tough one. As a batting unit, the foundation was there but we could not capitalise and that cost us.

“The wicket was tacky, so momentum was important but after that we couldn't capitalise. Their score was par, given the conditions I thought the bowlers did well. When the balls returned from the boundary, it hit the cover and was wet.

“They did well. It seemed par but was a winning total," he added.

Kolkata lost openers Phil Salt, out for six, and Sunil Narine, bowled for a duck off Jasprit Bumrah, in the first two overs and skipper Shreyas Iyer soon fell for seven.

But Venkatesh, a left-hand batsman, made Kolkata hit back with six fours and two sixes and he set the pace that was picked up by Nitish Rana and Russell in a key stand of 39.

Rana, a left-hand batter, hit 33 and Russell smashed 24 off 14 before Rinku Singh, who hit 20, and Ramandeep Singh, unbeaten 17, helped Kolkata finish on a high.

Bumrah and veteran leg-spinner Piyush Chawla took two wickets each.

Brief scores

Kolkata Knight Riders beat Mumbai Indians by 18 runs (rain reduced, 16 overs)

Kolkata Knight Riders: 157 for7 wickets in 16 overs (Venkatesh 42, Rana 33, Russell 24, Rinku 20; Bumraj 2-39, Chawla 2-28

Mumbai Indians: 139 for 8 wickets in 16 overs (Kishan 40, Varma 32; Rana 2-34, Chakravarthy 2-17, Russell 2-34)

Playing on Sunday, May 12

C hennai Super Kings vs Rajasthan Royals 2:00 pm (UAE time)

Venue: MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai

Royal Challengers Bengaluru vs Delhi Capitals 6:00 pm (UAE time)

Venue: M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru

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