Strays

Strays hits the streets August 18th from Universal. Dog lovers will be drawn to the cute, furry faces and how the film highlights canine antics. We all “talk” for our pets, and I feel that many will listen in shocked horror while thinking, “my dog would NEVER say that!”.

This film is rated R which may seem odd for a non animated film about cute pups. Normally a films rating would not draw attention this early in a review. However… these dogs drop more F bombs than goodfellas on a weekend bender. I feel as if they turned Ferrell and Foxx loose and told them to be as crude as humanly possible but in the mind of a dog. It walks a fine line between hilarity – which it ofttimes is – and cringe worthy nonsense; which happens more.

As a dog owner my heart went out to Reggie (Will Ferrell voiced) as he stayed loyal to a cruel and uncouth owner named Doug (Will Forte). It shows that dogs do love unconditionally. Reggie has been put on the streets by Doug and it is only after being befriended by Bug (Jamie Foxx voiced) and a couple of his four legged friends (Isla Fisher and Randall Park voiced) that Reggie finds his own self worth.

Once Reggie realizes that Doug is in fact cruel he sets off with his new friends to return home and punish Doug. On the journey back the four new friends get into some funny situations, and rely on each others strengths to get them through. the more I think about it, this could have been a super cute film. Instead we get dialogue that sounds like discarded material from an old Judd Apatow flop circa 2006.

The dogs in this film are fantastic, and I am glad they do not have to hear the words coming out of those sweet muzzles. You often forget that these are real animals and not an animated CGI conglomerate. They interact with each other as if having real life conversations. This is key to keeping the viewer engaged in the story. I will watch the film again when it hits 4K, but on mute. I figure I can add my own, better dialogue than what we get here.

This is the first live action movie with talking animals to receive an R rating. Congrats?? I keep harping on the rating only because I feel it is a missed opportunity. Dog owners love their pets and would come out in full support of even a PG-13 film like this. Sadly, most will be turned off and maybe even disgusted by what they hear here. It may be funny coming out of human faces, but when you put it in the mouths of a creature as loving and dedicated as a dog; it seems almost blasphemous. I am sure Bug would have some choice words about that…

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