Strays
The cinema plummets to a new low with a stomach-churning ‘comedy’ about four dogs on a sordid pilgrimage.
A dog’s life: Bug, Reggie, Maggie and Hunter. Image courtesy of Universal Pictures
Like Barbie, Reggie wakes up every morning with a heart full of optimism. “Today is going to be the best day ever,” he tells us, “because every day is the best day ever.” But Reggie, a border terrier voiced by Will Ferrell (Barbie), is fooling himself. He knows no better, but because he is a dog, he is loyal to a fault, fetching his owner’s tennis ball wherever it is thrown, which is getting to be further and further away from home. Then, one day, Reggie is driven three hours from all that he knows and he can no longer find his way back. Instead, he is befriended by three strays with language that would make a sailor blush. In fact, there’s little in this canine gross-out comedy that wouldn’t make a sailor blush.
Older viewers may recall a film called The Incredible Journey (1963), which was based on the children’s novel by Sheila Burnford and which spawned a remake and a sequel about three loyal pets – two dogs and a cat – that travel a vast distance over treacherous terrain to be reunited with their human owners. But that was Disney and this squats on the opposite end of the spectrum of taste. It’s a wonder the film was granted a 15 certificate, let alone a mainstream release, as its preoccupations with masturbation, coitus, foul language and bodily functions would embarrass the Marquis de Sade. As it is, such reputable actors as Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, Isla Fisher and Sofía Vergara deign to sully their reputations by voicing these butt-sniffers. Even Dennis Quaid drops by for a cameo as himself (“I am Dennis Quaid and Dennis Quaid has seen some shit,” he gloats in one of the film’s politer interludes).
If nothing else, Strays will go down in cinematic history for showcasing two of the crudest scenes ever committed to film, one involving vast quantities of faecal matter, the other a Great Dane’s spectacular erection. Because so much of the vulgarity is acted out by the canine cast, it somehow passes muster. Had the same scenes been performed by human actors, they would have been consigned to the darkest recesses of Pornhub. So some credit must be reserved for the animal trainers, and the CGI, and the puppeteers.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Voices Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, Isla Fisher, Randall Park, Rob Riggle, Josh Gad, Sofía Vergara; and, in person, Brett Gelman, Will Forte and Dennis Quaid.
Dir Josh Greenbaum, Pro Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Erik Feig, Aditya Sood, Louis Leterrier and Dan Perrault, Screenplay Dan Perrault, Ph Tim Orr, Pro Des Aaron Osborne, Ed David Rennie, Sabrina Plisco and Greg Hayden, Music Dara Taylor, Costumes Romy Itzigsohn, Sound Jon Title.
Lord Miller Productions/Picturestart/Rabbit Hole Productions-Universal Pictures.
93 mins. USA. 2023. UK Rel: 17 August 2023. US Rel: 18 August 2023. Cert. 15.
