Copper, 8 months
I first read The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein in January 2015, two weeks after my much-loved Golden Retriever, Copper, died of  stomach cancer at the age of 12 1/2. Mike and I had picked up Copper when he was eight-months-old, a “return to breeder” for reasons unknown. To be honest, we weren’t in the market for a dog at the time: our Golden, Ranger, had only recently passed (also cancer) at age 10 and I wasn’t sure I could go through all that again. But a woman in my running group mentioned that Copper was looking for a good home and that the breeder was very reputable. “What harm is there in going to take a look at him?” Mike had asked, and of course, we came home with Copper (already named) the day we did that.
Copper, 5 years old
As dogs go, Copper was pretty much perfect. He walked without tugging on a flat collar, didn’t bark, and never counter-surfed. Oh, he had his quirks — wouldn’t go out in the morning until he’d had breakfast, no matter how long since his last pee (I assume he missed out on a meal once in his former home and wasn’t about to let that happen again) — but he got us through some tough times, including my bout with breast cancer in 2008, when he stuck by me like glue.
Anyway, this is a long way of saying that Copper’s passing was a dark time for me. And then I read The Art of Racing in the Rain. It made me happy, sad, mad, and every emotion in-between, but mostly the end (which I will not spoil if you haven’t read the book) filled me with hope. To this day it remains one of my all-time favorite books, one that stays on my bookshelf when others get donated to thrift shops or given to friends with a “no need to return” message. So when I heard it was being made into a movie with Kevin Costner (who I like) voicing Enzo the dog, and Miles Ventimiglia (who I’ve loved since Gilmore Girls), I was beyond excited.
Copper 12 years old
I should have known things were not good when the movie headed straight for DVD after a one-week run in the theater. But I’m an optimistic sort, and at our camp in Northern Ontario, it’s DVDs or nothing, cable and streaming not an option, so I ordered the movie from Amazon, bought me some popcorn, and got watching.
Now, if you like to cry from the beginning of a movie to the end, The Art of Racing in the Rain will be your kind of film. But if you’re looking for the uplifting feeling you get from from the book…well, it’s just not there. Somehow, even the ending, which they stuck by, seemed flat. I don’t blame Enzo (he’s a dog, after all), Miles did a decent job, as did his movie wife, Amanda Seyfried, and Kevin Costner’s voiceover, while a bit too “old sounding” to me, was adequate, if not spectacular. But an integral part of the story was removed, presumably in the essence of time, and the spirt of the book just didn’t transfer to the big screen.
I worried that the movie adaptation of this book would disappoint. I wasn’t wrong. I just wish I hadn’t watched it.
What about you? Ever regretted watching the movie version of one of your favorite books?
I liked the book. Easy sell to a dog lover. 😉
Copper sounds wonderful. Olo, our golden mix didn’t pull too much, but I let him off-leash a lot in the country, and he’d come back dragging a deer spine or skull. He also enjoyed pressing against us as we walked in our hall, which would push me into the hall. I still love and miss him.
I have pretty low movie standards. I see them so rarely (time thing), although more with kids and Netflix and Disney+. Books, I’m a devotee and a connoisseur.
Copper was a great dog, Melissa. Sounds like Old was, too. And I almost always prefer the book to the movie.
I love the book but didn’t see the movie. I knew I’d cry during the entire picture.
Kathleen, you’d cry over how they ruined the book!
If I could find a Golden that would walk without pulling my shoulder out of the socket, I’d get one today. I LOVED the two I had, but couldn’t walk a dog like that any more, after two shoulder surgeries. They are such special dogs. I try to avoid movies of books I’ve read. I’ve been disappointed too many times!
Kaye, it’s called a harness! That’s what I use with Gibbs, though Copper never tugged, even on a flat collar.
I didn’t think a harness would work, since a pinch collar and a spiked collar didn’t. I admit I never tried. I’ve used them on cats.
Kaye they work great and added bonus you can click into a hook into the seat belt back seat so dog stays put.
This is going to sound odd, but I read “Star Wars” before I watched the movie. Yeah, I’m probably a rarity. Anyways, I got more from the book than the movie. While the movie was good, it wasn’t as good as the book I read.
Diane, I didn’t even know there was a Star Wars book — I thought it was a screenplay. Interesting. I didn’t watch the movie. Really do not care for SciFi.