Film Review — Strays

Bad dogs.

An abandoned Border Terrier seeks revenge against his cruel former owner.

★☆☆☆☆

An R-rated retort to animal road movies like A Dog’s Purpose and Homeward Bound, Strays takes the “dogs with famous voices” format and turns it on its head with 93-minutes laden with f-bombs, jokes about pee, poop and humping. Lots and lots of humping.

It’s every bit as profane and filthy as its trailers suggest. It’s also, despite a stacked comedic cast featuring the likes of Will Ferrell, Isla Fisher and Jamie Foxx, staggeringly unfunny.

Despite being a mere few finger taps from half an internet of doggy-joke heaven, Strays is pitifully unimaginative. Its gags riff on the usual — a confused love/hate relationship with the postman, pissing equaling ownership, and telling cats to “fuck off” — feel like jokes that were mildly amusing when Family Guy cracked them over a decade ago.

Strays is strongest when centring around its core message of animal welfare. Will Forte is a highlight, his slobby and abusive dog owner stirring all the emotions his contemptible character should. The finale might feel oddly dated with its Miley Cyrus needle drop, but it’s easily the highlight of the film, not that that’s saying much.

If your idea of peak comedy is Jamie Foxx yelling obscenities and humping couches for ninety minutes, Strays is going to down a real treat. It’s the kind of film perfect for a younger audience, hungry for edgy, gross-out humour to serve as background noise whilst they scroll animal videos on TikTok.

But for me, this unfunny and surprisingly unimaginative “comedy” is the movie equivalent of picking up dog poop, and accidentally getting a bit lodged under your fingernail.

Originally published at michaelkenny.uk