Strays is the answer to people who think live-action animal films are only for little kids or emotional saps. Just an example of what to expect from this film is that I can’t even begin to estimate the amount of f-bombs that were dropped in the first 10 minutes of the film.
There’s even a moment in the film where it pokes fun at the types of films where the dog is the narrator, think A Dog’s Purpose. I would say among dog films it’s probably most similar to Scooby-Doo based on hilarious hijinx alone minus the mysteries, with a skew towards pushing boundaries as seen in Ted, which isn’t a dog movie but the use of a CGI best friend teddy bear makes it a distant relative among these films.
On that note, I don’t how much was filmed with real dogs and how much work was done with CGI, but each scene felt flawless to where I could just focus on the ridiculous things happening, the hilarious things being said by these doggos, and just laugh my butt off the entire time.
The cast really embraced their characters and for the time being it will be hard for me to not imagine their voices when I see their characters’ respective dog breeds. Will Farrell makes for a convincingly innocent young Border Terrier by the name of Reggie, who quickly grows into his unneutered balls, under the guidance of Jamie Foxx’s Bug, the stray Boston Terrier with a tough exterior but soft interior. One of entertainment’s most lovable actors who can do no wrong, Randall Park, basically the Great Dane version of himself (in all ways), especially with his BDE. Isla Fisher plays Maggie, the Australian Shepherd with a remarkable sense of smell who has been replaced in a way as her owner decided to get a new, smaller cute miniature puppy.
The film has scenes that play off what I’ll call the intrusive thoughts I’m sure we have from time to time about dogs and other pets, such as do dogs call it doggy style or regular style as well as how do dogs go from being sweet and adorable fur babies to vicious monsters towards mailmen.
Despite the comedy and shock value at times with Strays, it still has its heart-touching moments, placing it in the realm of something an animal fan looking for that kind of flick could appreciate as long as they’re a fan of or open to this type of humor.
Catch Strays in theaters starting today.
