Arthur the King (2024). The movie starts off a little slow in the first 30 minutes, and then appears to be about adventure racing, a grueling multi-modal extreme sport that involves competitive running, cycling, climbing, and kayaking over a period of 10 days and over 400 miles. But soon they’re joined by a beautiful stray dog, who determinedly keeps up with their grueling routine. As the dog and the team leader of one of the competitive teams begin to bond, the movie becomes more about the dog and soon entirely about the dog.
I don’t want to say more than that because I don’t want to spoil it – it deserves to be seen and appreciated on its merits, which are considerable, though as a confirmed dog lover I’m probably biased. But it isn’t sappy or mawkish, and indeed is based on a true story, except that the real adventure racing team was from Sweden and in this movie the team leader was from Colorado, and the site of the race was switched from Ecuador to the Dominican Republic, where most of the action was filmed on location.
I’ll just say one thing. Ukai, the Australian shepherd/border collie/Bouvier mix who played Arthur, deserves more than just a Palm Dog from Cannes – that dog deserves an actual freaking Oscar! Very highly recommended. There’s a trailer on Rotten Tomatoes if you’re interested in a preview.