Ava Ginley

Movie review: Art of Racing in the Rain

Tonight, I watched a movie called The Art of Racing in the Rain. The minute I saw the trailer for this, it

was on my bucket list for dog movies to cry at. However, I never got around to seeing it in the theatre, so

now I’m watching it with my family from home. Supposedly it’s about the life of a race car driver and his

dog, Enzo. The movie shows the span of his whole life, and it is told in the point of view of Enzo.

The movie starts with the dog feeling old and sick in a hallway, and the owner petting him. Then, the

movie goes back to the beginning of Enzo’s life. Enzo is picked from many golden retrievers and taken

home to Denny’s apartment in Seattle, Washington. He is a good race car driver, which is how Enzo falls

in love with racing. Enzo knew he belonged there, and he refers to the racetrack as “heaven on earth”.

Denny meets the love of his life, Eve, at a supermarket. They get married, and move to a house with

Enzo, and soon she is pregnant. Denny leaves to go to races a lot, resulting in Eve and Enzo spending a

lot of time together and forming a bond. It also results in Eve giving birth to their daughter, Zoe, without

him. He was in Florida for a special race, in which his team lost, but he keeps his hopes up and says there

will be other races. Eve’s father does not like Denny and doesn’t think he can take care of his family. He

fights with Denny often, and Denny promises to never do anything to hurt Eve and Zoe, even if it means

losing every race.

As Zoe grows up, Denny is losing a lot of races. He contemplates whether he should still be a racer, but

he stays with it. Eve starts not feeling well a lot, and Enzo can sense that she has a type of illness. He

watches her get sicker and feels terrible that there is nothing he can do about it. Eve tries to stay strong

and hide her sickness for a long time, but she immediately takes off to the hospital with Zoe while Denny

is away at a race. She completely forgot about Enzo, and he is left without food and water for many days.

He wonders if they will ever come back and he gets very sad. They finally return to him to give him food
and water and he continues loving them unconditionally. Continuing through the rest of the story, Enzo

stays alongside Denny for a lot of conflict, very stressful times, a horrible custody battle, and even death.

Enzo is so loyal and stays with Denny the whole time, through work and family life. The movie truly

makes you respect a dog’s role of companionship to their owner, and their role in people’s lives. I thought

this movie was a solid 8/10, because it is one of those movies that the idea of it makes you not want to

watch it again sense it’s so sad. However, the movie had a nice ending, and the dog was adorable. After I

watch a movie like this, I always have a newfound respect for how important dogs can be to someone’s

life. They love you no matter what, even if you leave them in a house with no food or water for days. I

also liked some of the music in the movie, including Helplessly Hoping by Crosby, Stills & Nash.

Overall, I really liked the movie, I would recommend it and I would watch it again. I wouldn’t watch it

again right now, but I would definitely watch it with someone who hadn’t seen it.