Strays

As a dog lover, how could I resist an R-rated comedy about them? "Strays" promised a wild ride in its trailer, and I'm pleased to say it lived up to the hype.

At its core, "Strays" offers a simple yet brilliantly executed idea. An abandoned dog seeking revenge on his former owner might sound absurd, but the film manages to weave an engaging and surprisingly heartfelt narrative around this concept. It's a testament to the filmmakers' ability to take an offbeat premise and turn it into something that's genuinely entertaining.

Now, it's worth noting that "Strays" isn't without its flaws. The abundance of raunchy jokes sometimes feels forced and falls flat. However, the film more than compensates for this with its underlying emotional resonance. Beneath the crude humor, there's a lot of heart in the relationships between the strays, and their quest for justice becomes oddly touching.

For dog lovers, "Strays" offers a unique emotional journey. It taps into the special bond between humans and their four-legged friends, even if the storytelling occasionally leans towards the outrageous. While not a perfect film, "Strays" manages to deliver on its promise and leaves you with a mix of laughter, sentimentality, and an unusual sense of satisfaction. It's a quirky cinematic experience that's sure to strike a chord with those who can't resist the charm of our furry companions.

As a pet lover, seeing the trailer for this I knew I was going to have to see it asap. A funny film in the mould of the Ted movies, so don't expect subtlety, expect lots of crude humour.

The dogs are cute and we get a nice balance of characters (and breeds for that matter), and Reggie the lead Border Terrier is super cute. His owner, less so, treating him badly and trying to abandon this lovable and gullible dog!

The movie has a warm heart at its core, and as we experience all the escapades of the dogs we root for them to achieve their goal. I guess you need to really know or own a dog to really find it funny, and being adult in nature it has limited its market perhaps resulting in its poor box office takings.

None the less, I thought it was fun and enjoyable and would recommend it to have a laugh as a light movie with a beer in hand.

7/10.

I saw Strays at an early fan screening and there were a total of 10 people in my auditorium. This is the reason we barely see comedy movies any more, let alone R-rated ones that don't hold back.

Strays is fun and funny from beginning to end. The hit rate on the comedic attempts is high. Most of it made me laugh out loud. The rest made me at least smile. Comedy is subjective, and I personally love this type of crass comedy.

The casting is on point. I enjoyed all of the voice acting. But the one casting choice that I adored was Will Forte. I realized how much I miss him after rewatching MacGruber recently. He's absolutely perfect for the role.

For a relatively silly movie and concept, it does a surprisingly good job of getting you emotionally invested, even if you're not a dog person. After the movie I couldn't wait to see my cats.

(1 viewing, early fan screening 8/16/2023)

Pretty funny at times, very creative with an inventive narrative around what dogs think of things. The movie is kind of immaterial without this. The bad language is consistent as is a lot of the adult themes, lots of dick jokes.. lots of leg humping humour. So be warned if you don't mind that kind of low brow humour.

The acting, as in the voice over, is fairly forced at times - but I still really enjoyed it. Will Ferrel does an amazing job doing a Ryan Reynolds impression for the whole movie. Tell me I'm wrong.

Some good cameos.. and plenty of ridiculous lines that made me smile. "Poop your way to freedom" was to be my new catch phrase until the scene that followed. Which made me gag. Like a lot.

I enjoyed it, but I'm pretty immature. I'm still laughing thinking about it - made for a good rainy Saturday afternoon rental.

Strays might not necessarily be the most refined comedy out there, but it sure is funny.

It is essentially a road trip movie but with dogs instead of people, as Will Ferrell's Reggie teams up with three other dogs to find the owner who abandoned him and exact revenge.

It's a neat set up and a funny perspective for a movie, which leads to lots of great scenarios and comedic moments. It has some truly brilliant one liners and jokes that will have you laughing out loud numerous times. They really do use the dog angle to its fullest extent with some brilliantly sharp and witty dialogue. It is also refreshing to see that the best gags weren't spoiled in the trailer which a lot of comedies have started doing of late!

The comedy is elevated by the brilliant voice acting. You'd expect nothing less from a comedy great like Will Ferrell who is of course superb, but it's Jamie Foxx who steals the show with some truly inspired voice acting. Isla Fisher and Randall Park are great too, with the four of them making a fun foursome to follow around for 90 minutes.

I do think at times it goes a little over the top and drags out some of its jokes a little too long, but these are minor issues really.

On the whole, Strays is a fun, fresh, and most importantly a funny comedy that will be sure to entertain.