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THE ART OF RACING IN THE RAIN
Director: Simon Curtis Cast: Milo Ventimiglia, Amanda Seyfried, Martin Donovan, Kathy Baker, Ryan Kiera Armstrong, Gary Cole, the voice of Kevin Costner MPAA
Rating: Running Time: 1:49 Release Date: 8/9/19 |
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Review by Mark Dujsik | August 8, 2019 Beyond the fact that it's obviously schmaltzy, there isn't necessarily a problem with the idea of a story told from a dog's perspective and narrated by said pooch. Still, The Art of Racing in the Rain appears to set out to solve a rather inconsequential issue with that storytelling device. Usually, the dogs we hear narrating these movies speak in the manner we'd probably expect from a dog—overly excited about the most miniscule things, occasionally mopey, adorably ignorant of the ways of the world and humans, stumbling upon profundity through the simplest of observations about those things. Screenwriter Mark Bomback, adapting Garth Stein's novel of the same name, forgoes that obvious approach, giving us a dog who narrates this story with a surprisingly robust vocabulary and the mentality of a philosopher. Enzo (voice of Kevin Costner) hasn't seen much of the world, beyond the confines of a couple of houses and the circular road of a few race tracks and some things on TV. He is, though, quite wise beyond his years and experiences. It never really has been a problem that the talking/narrating dogs have simple views and ways of speaking in intentionally cheesy and sappy movies about how canines can teach us humans a thing or two about life. Even so, Enzo almost seems set to spoil dogs in any future movies that do a similar thing. If someone's going to make a movie from a dog's perspective, why shouldn't that dog be smarter and wiser than we might expect? If one is going to tell a story in a familiar but inherently ludicrous way, isn't it better to do at least a little something different with it and go all in on the conceit? Bomback's willingness to give the dog a mature voice certainly helps this material at the start, and that's not even mentioning director Simon Curtis' decision to cast Costner—whose gravelly gruffness is a constant, even when Enzo is just a puppy—as that voice. The story begins where most movies about a beloved dog end: with Enzo sick and probably dying. Lying on the floor of his owner's home, Enzo begins his lengthy tale of joy and confusion and sadness and ultimate fulfillment with a rather spot-on observation about his existence: "Gestures are all that I have." A dog could say a lot if it was able, but as Enzo continues with some biological reality, the animal's tongue is too long and not developed enough to form words. Gestures form the language of a dog, and now trapped in an old and tired body, Enzo is unable to tell Denny (Milo Ventimiglia), a semi-professional race car driver who has had the dog since it was a puppy, that something is terribly wrong. The listlessness and a puddle of "wet" on the floor are his means of communicating this fact. Again, if you're going to tell this kind of story in this particular fashion, here's a rather clever and fascinating angle from which to approach it. Even if a dog can think in deeper ways than we can imagine, it is still a dog. That means its existence is one of a mind imprisoned by the limits of its physiology. A dog knows things that people may not. It has thoughts and feelings it wants to express. It wants to say more in a more comprehensible way, but a dog is a dog, incapable of such communication. As Enzo's story—and, more importantly and to the movie's ultimate detriment later, Denny's story as told by the dog—continues, the dog finds itself speechless to express his joy in seeing Denny race, his dismay in the appearance of Eve (Amanda Seyfried) in their lives, and his awe in being the "older brother" of the couple's daughter. The dog's story, so simple and so ordinary, is bolstered to a surprising degree by Enzo's predicament and his soulful narration. Then, well, the movie dives fully into the realm of melodrama, starting with Enzo smelling an odor of rot coming from someone's ears. From then on, we're just waiting for tragedy to strike this happy family, and boy, does it ever. The rest of the movie is dedicated to one tear-jerking situation after another, dealing with terminal illness (There are a few rather lovely moments between Enzo and the person dealing with that illness, as the two form a kinship in knowing more about life than they can communicate to others) and death and an over-the-top battle for the custody of Denny and Eve's daughter Zoe (Ryan Kiera Armstrong). It's strange to say such a thing, but Enzo, the narrating dog, becomes more of a relatable, believable, and sympathetic character than any of the humans here. That's achieved quite plainly, by giving the dog a distinct dilemma and voice, but The Art of Racing in the Rain loses track of such simplicity. The dog becomes little more than a witness to a clichéd and overblown series of maudlin situations. Copyright © 2019 by Mark Dujsik. All rights reserved. |
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