Film Review – The Art of Racing in the Rain

For the latest offering of dogsploitation in 2019 (following “A Dog’s Journey” and “A Dog’s Way Home”), “The Art of Racing in the Rain” attempts to merge cute pooch shenanigans and wizened canine authority with a television melodrama, hoping to hit viewers right in the sweet spot with its assembly of manipulation and fantasy. We’ve been here before, especially when the material starts discussing the possibilities of dog reincarnation, but director Simon Curtis (“Goodbye Christopher Robin”) doesn’t seem to mind, moving forward with material that has no connection to human behavior. It’s a tear-jerker, and not an especially effective one, as this adaptation of Garth Stein’s 2008 novel loves to play by its own rules of interpersonal relationships, coming up with a broad approximation of drama, not an incisive understanding of one pet’s journey of observation. As with many of these coarse, clumsy endeavors: not every book needs to be a movie. Read the rest at Blu-ray.com