Strays

Strays is one of those simple films where I feel like part of the tagline should be "mileage may vary". Being a cat person, a dog person, or a no-to-both person will clearly define how much you enjoy or hate this film. 

Will Ferrell hasn't exactly been on a great tear in recent years outside of a few gems, which is a shame because I think he's someone who can be gut-bustingly hilarious with the right material. The Phil Lord and Chris Miller produced Strays is a lot of the "right stuff" and I found it to be quite funny, as did the majority of my packed Friday-night audience. The laughs are frequent - even if they overly depend on the R-rated nature of a dog dropping an F-bomb - and the overall package is fairly typical with not much else to write home about outside of the a vulgar doggy video. For those who really love their dogs (me!) it'll tickle your warm and fuzzies as it has some reflection on good and bad owners that'll make you want to go home and give your pup a squeeze (chances are you were going to do that anyway). 

If you've seen the trailers thus far, there aren't many surprises in store, but that doesn't diminish the expected returns. There are lots of jokes and gross-out moments and I found the hit-rate of laughs to be high, with only a few moments getting awkward silence from my audience. The humor is decidedly R-rated, as mentioned, and there are times it starts to outstay its welcome, but never so much so that I was no longer enjoying myself. There's just something hilarious about a small, cute dog with Will Ferrell's voice exclaiming that he's going to bite his bad-owners d**k off! Outside of Ferrell, the rest of the main cast does great, including Jamie Foxx, Isla Fisher, and Randall Park. Out of that group, the standout was Park for me as his dog Hunter is probably the most complex, but also the funniest...his attempt to howl got me every time and is one of the best recurring "clean" jokes in the whole film. Many of the gross-out moments I also found very funny, though I imagine this is where the film will lose it for many as they're juvenile, though highly related to the...ehm...joys of having a dog. 

Strays won't be a comedy we're talking about in future years, but it's a really fun and funny one, maybe two-time view that will get extra mileage from dog lovers and owners. Those who don't fall into that camp, you've been warned, there's probably not much here for you. 

Rath's Review Score | 7/10