Honestly, if you haven't cried at a golden retriever’s internal monologue, have you even lived?
When The Art of Racing in the Rain movie hit theaters in 2019, critics were, well, they were a bit cynical. They called it "manipulative" or "shameless." But here’s the thing about those reviews: they missed the entire point of why Garth Stein’s story resonated with millions of people before it ever touched a film strip. This isn't just a "dog movie." It’s a movie about the exhausting, beautiful, and sometimes unfair reality of being a human, told through the eyes of a creature who thinks he’s just one reincarnation away from becoming one of us.
Kevin Costner’s voice acting is doing heavy lifting here. It’s gravelly. It’s wise. It feels like a warm blanket even when the plot is actively trying to rip your heart out.
What Everyone Gets Wrong About Enzo and Denny
Most people go into this expecting a variation of Marley & Me. You think you’re getting 100 minutes of a dog chewing on shoes and maybe a sad ending. But the meat of the story is actually a legal and familial drama that gets surprisingly dark. Milo Ventimiglia plays Denny Swift, a race car driver who’s basically the personification of "good guy finishes last... for a while."
The movie is a weird, beautiful hybrid. One minute you’re at Pacific Northwest Track, smelling the burnt rubber and feeling the hydroplaning (which is a metaphor for life, obviously), and the next, you’re in a high-stakes custody battle against the "Twins"—Eve’s parents, played by Martin Donovan and Cherry Jones. They are the quintessential villains you love to hate because their motivation is rooted in a misguided, elitist version of love.
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The philosophy of the track
Denny's mantra—"that which you manifest is before you"—isn't just some hippie-dippie nonsense. In the context of the film, it’s a survival mechanism. If you focus on the wall, you hit the wall. If you focus on the exit of the turn, you find the grip.
Enzo learns this by watching televised races and observing Denny’s career. The dog becomes a philosopher of the asphalt. It’s kinda brilliant because it gives a narrative framework to the chaos of the human experience. When Eve (Amanda Seyfried) gets sick, the movie doesn't shy away from the ugliness of it. It’s not a "pretty" Hollywood illness. It’s a slow, agonizing erosion of a family unit, and Enzo is the only one who can smell the decay before the doctors even have a clue.
That’s a real thing, by the way. Dogs sensing cancer isn't a plot device made up for the book; it’s a documented biological phenomenon. It adds a layer of tragic helplessness to Enzo’s character—he knows the "demon" is inside her, but he has no tongue to tell them.
The controversy of the "Demon" scene
There is a specific scene that often catches new viewers off guard. It involves a stuffed zebra. If you’ve seen it, you know. If you haven't, it sounds ridiculous. Enzo, in a moment of sensory overload or perhaps a hallucinatory fever dream, sees a stuffed zebra come to life and tear itself apart.
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It’s the most "book-like" moment in the film, and it’s polarizing. Some think it’s a jarring tonal shift. Others see it as the perfect representation of Enzo’s internal struggle—his animal instincts warring with his human-like consciousness. He blames the zebra for the bad things happening in the house. It’s his scapegoat for the grief he can't process.
Why the ending hits differently than other dog movies
Most "dog movies" end with the inevitable. We know how biology works. But The Art of Racing in the Rain movie does something slightly more metaphysical. It leans into the Mongolian legend that a dog who is "ready" will be reborn as a man in his next life.
This takes the sting out of the loss and replaces it with a sense of cosmic destiny. When we see the young Italian boy at the end of the film who wants to "race in the rain," it’s not just a coincidence. It’s the payoff. It suggests that nothing is ever truly lost, just reshaped.
- The Casting was Precise: Milo Ventimiglia brought that This Is Us dad energy that made the custody battle feel incredibly high-stakes.
- Real Racing: They didn't just use green screens. They used real cars, real tracks (like Canadian Tire Motorsport Park), and professional drivers to ensure the racing felt authentic to gearheads.
- The Voice: Initially, there were rumors about different actors, but Costner’s weathered tone provided the necessary weight to Enzo’s observations.
How to actually watch this movie without being a wreck
If you’re planning a rewatch or seeing it for the first time, don't go in cold. You need to prepare for the "middle act" more than the ending. The ending is actually quite uplifting, but the legal battle and the illness segments are grueling.
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It’s a story about resilience. It’s about the fact that sometimes the rain is going to come down, and you’re going to lose traction. The car will spin. You’ll feel like you’re losing control of everything you’ve built. But as Denny says, the best drivers don't fight the rain; they embrace it.
Actionable Takeaways for Movie Night
- Have the tissues ready, but don't over-index on the sadness. Focus on the "manifestation" theme. It’s actually a pretty decent life philosophy regarding how we handle crises.
- Watch the cinematography during the race scenes. The way the camera sits low to the ground mimics Enzo’s perspective and the driver’s seat simultaneously. It’s a clever visual bridge between the dog and the man.
- Look for the subtleties in Enzo's "acting." The production used several dogs, but the lead, Parker, had an incredible ability to look "soulful" on command.
- Compare it to the book if you have time. Garth Stein’s prose is much more internal, but the film captures the "vibe" of the Pacific Northwest and the racing culture better than most adaptations manage.
If you’ve been avoiding it because you "can't handle dog movies," you’re missing out on a really solid performance by Ventimiglia and a story that actually has something to say about how we treat each other during the worst years of our lives. It's about loyalty that transcends species. It's about being a "good dog" in a world that can be pretty "bad."
Go find a comfortable couch. Grab your own dog if you have one. Just be ready to hug them a little tighter when the credits roll.
Next Steps for the Viewer:
Track down the "Making Of" featurettes to see how they filmed the racing sequences without putting the animals in danger. Then, look into the actual science of canine scent detection mentioned in the film; organizations like Penn Vet Working Dog Center do incredible work training dogs to detect diseases, proving that Enzo's "superpower" in the movie is closer to reality than fiction.