Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx's 'Strays' takes audiences on a vulgar, scatological adventure
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Strays
2.5 out of 5 Stars
Director: Josh Greenbaum
Writer: Dan Perrault
Starring: Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, Isla Fisher, Randall Park
Genre: Comedy. Adventure
Rated: R for pervasive language, crude and sexual content, and drug use.
SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) – Studio Synopsis: When Reggie (Will Ferrell), a naïve, relentlessly optimistic Border Terrier, is abandoned on the mean city streets by his lowlife owner, Doug (Will Forte; The Last Man on Earth, Nebraska), Reggie is certain that his beloved owner would never leave him on purpose.
But once Reggie falls in with a fast-talking, foul-mouthed Boston Terrier named Bug (Oscar winner Jamie Foxx), a stray who loves his freedom and believes that owners are for suckers, Reggie finally realizes he was in a toxic relationship and begins to see Doug for the heartless sleazeball that he is.
Determined to seek revenge, Reggie, Bug and Bug’s pals—Maggie (Isla Fisher; Now You See Me, Wedding Crashers), a smart Australian Shepherd who has been sidelined by her owner’s new puppy, and Hunter (Randall Park; Always Be My Maybe, Aquaman), an anxious Great Dane who’s stressed out by his work as an emotional support animal—together hatch a plan and embark on an epic adventure to help Reggie find his way home and make Doug pay by biting off the appendage he loves the most. (Hint: It’s not his foot).
Review: When I think of my favorite childhood movies 1963’s “The Incredible Journey” has never come to mind. Never. I don’t think I ever watched 1993’s “Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey.” I don’t remember having enough interest in “Benji” or “Lassie” to form an opinion. I think I liked “Where the Red Fern Grows.” The 1974 version, not the one with Dave Matthews. The point is that I have no particular love for dog movies (talking or otherwise). "Isle of Dogs" being the exception. I love "Isle of Dogs."
I’m also not enamored with contemporary comedies. It’s not that I don’t understand the jokes. I just don’t find them funny. There are exceptions. and most of them star Jason Segel. It is the exceptions that had me sitting in a theater earlier this week watching “Strays.” It’s plausible that an R-rated comedy with talking dogs could sneak into my favorite films of 2023.
Plausible.
“Strays” is the sad story of Reggie, a border terrier voiced by Will Ferrell. Reggie’s owner, Doug (Will Forte), blames him for all his hardships. Doug is typically unemployed and lives off the checks that his mother sends him. For Doug, every day is the same. You wake to yell at the dog, smoke pot, and masturbate. Repeat as necessary.
If it wasn’t clear before, “Strays” is by no means appropriate for children.
Reggie doesn’t recognize the abusive relationship he has with Doug. He misconstrues Doug’s disdain as love. If you saw “Renfield,” it’s the same sort of dynamic with more toxicity and less metaphor.
When Doug receives an eviction notice, he decides that he’s tired of the responsibility of owning a dog that he only kept to spite his ex-girlfriend. So, Doug plays a variation of fetch with Reggie where the pair drive out to somewhere, Doug throws the tennis ball, and immediately drives a way when Reggie goes to find it. Somehow, Reggie keeps finding his way home.
For this round of catch Reggie finds himself in the city where he is befriended by Bug (Jamie Foxx), a streetwise Boston terrier, Maggie (Isla Fisher), a kind Australian shepherd, and Hunter (Randall Park), a Great Dane that failed K9 training and now wears a cone collar.
Bug teaches Reggie a thing or two about life and parasitic relationships. Crushed by the revelation that Doug doesn’t love him, Reggie decides to head back home to exact some old-fashioned revenge.
What follows is essentially a crude sex comedy obsessed with urination, defecation, and Doug’s genitals. There’s also a hallucinogenic scene that ends horrifically. It’s effectively gross in a John Waters sort of way. And to be fair, John Waters has done worse, but he also did it better. Or he at least did it with a sense of purpose? Maybe he just did it first. I tend to like the idea of John Waters more than the films by John Waters.
“Strays” at least has a coherent story, and it rarely pulls its punches. Because you can’t land jabs that you don’t throw. I do wonder if it had a script or if they put Ferrell, Fox, Fisher, and Park in a room and just told them to improv situations and the nastiest of the nasty would make the final cut.
There might be potential in the ideas, but once you get beyond the shock value of the vulgarity, urination, defecation, and Doug’s genitals there's not much there.
I found “Strays” to be an excruciating experience. It easily could be worse. It might be perfectly enjoyable for those who laugh at the trailer, like the voice cast, or maybe even just like the premise of a bunch of stray dogs that party hard and bite even harder.