“The Art of Racing in the Rain” stars a golden retriever named Enzo Swift (voiced by Kevin Costner). This movie is narrated by Enzo focusing on his life and his adventures with his owner, Denny Swift (Milo Ventimiglia). Denny is a Formula One race car driver who is known for his phenomenal driving skills. Denny and Enzo are an inseparable team who do everything together. Enzo dreams of being reincarnated into a human so that he can become a skilled racer just like Denny. When Denny meets a girl named Eve (Amanda Seyfried), who does not like dogs, they fall in love and get married. This causes Enzo to see Eve as a competitor for Denny’s affection. However,when Eve and Denny have a child named Zoë, Enzo and Eve’s relationship grows creating a happy family.

The film has quite a few strong attributes. The actors were very relatable in their roles. The relationships in the movie were simulated in such a way that the audience would connect to the characters. Kevin Costner’s narration helped the audience connect to Enzo and his journey through life. The cinematography was very well done. There were a variety of camera angles including an angle that portrayed Enzo’s viewpoint, allowing the audience to visualize how a dog sees the world. The soundtrack and score helped the audience become immersed in the story. While “The Art of Racing in the Rain” did have some good moments, there were a few things in the film that need improvement.

The plot is very jumpy to the point it becomes difficult to connect with certain characters, including Eve. The film moves so quickly that I did not have the time to care for her character, let alone forgive Eve for not liking dogs. Roughly the first forty minutes try to summarize eight years of Enzo’s journey. There are certain points in the film where I felt as if there was a sign on the screen that shouted “Foreshadowing!” It got to the point where the plot became so predictable that I knew how certain story lines were going to end about an hour into the movie. The film is so desperate to connect with its viewers that it will cover a plethora of melodramatic points, trying to make the audience cry throughout the entire film. However, it is done in such a way that the filmmakers do not give the audience a moment to collect their thoughts or process what has happened before it moves on to the next point.

Overall, I thought that “The Art of Racing in the Rain” was a very predictable, melodramatic dog movie. This is a typical dog movie made for those who love dogs, those who enjoy crying, or those who just want a film to play with their emotions. I feel as if all of these Hollywood dog movies as a whole share a checklist and they all check off the same boxes including the fact that all of these movies must be narrated by the dog. The good in this movie does not outweigh the bad which cause the film to fail in its goal to deliver its message. I would recommend that people wait to see this movie and rent it at home. I would rate this film 2.5 film reels out of 5 film reels.