Although we may not have seen a comedy like this before, Strays feels like an obvious winning formula for a hard R comedy: create a movie from a dog's point of view, make it as raunchy as possible, shake well, and serve. Although this could have been a film that tries far too hard at being funny through cheap gags and the typical doggy misunderstandings, it works so well, it ends up being on of the best comedies of the years.
Will Ferrell voices Reggie, a small dog who has mistaken abuse at the hands of his owner (Will Forte) as love and eventually finds himself dumped hours away. He quickly befriends Jamie Foxx's Bug, as well as Isla Fisher's Maggie and Randall Park's Hunter, who help Reggie realize the truth and em...bark (sorry) on a quest of revenge. I'll save the what of the revenge as a surprise, unless you've seen the trailer, but the film doesn't waste any time in bringing the laughs. From the moment we see Reggie mistakenly exaggerate Will Forte's loser owner Doug as a loving guardian instead of the abusive jerk he is, the film keeps the comedy flying, mostly using a mix of doggy misunderstandings, raunchy humor, and the kinds of things we might spend time watching on YouTube. The film isn't afraid to wallow in the filth either, with penises and poop playing into the humor.
The voice cast is perfect, with Will's ability to play up childlike wonder, even in the midst of making threats, perfect for Reggie's naivety and lack of 'big dog' attitude. Foxx contrasts as a streetwise, no nonsense, stray pup who uses the F word maybe one too many times and is all about the filthiest stuff in life. Isla Fisher feels maybe underutilized the most, as much of her humor bounces off the bigger personalities there, while Randall Park feels like he may be channeling his Human Resources voice and personality work as the dorky, uptight Hunter. It is Will Forte though that steals the show with every scene he's in, though they are pretty much all relegated to the beginning and end. This is Forte as we commonly know him and it's never anything but laugh out loud hilarious, especially in the ending.
The R rating here is very much earned and anyone who thinks an excess of raunchy humor would be too much will probably find this overdone. I personally found that the number of times the F word was used was forced and excessive, but it didn't detract from the film. Behind Joy Ride, there hasn't been a film this year where I have laughed this hard.
Will Ferrell voices Reggie, a small dog who has mistaken abuse at the hands of his owner (Will Forte) as love and eventually finds himself dumped hours away. He quickly befriends Jamie Foxx's Bug, as well as Isla Fisher's Maggie and Randall Park's Hunter, who help Reggie realize the truth and em...bark (sorry) on a quest of revenge. I'll save the what of the revenge as a surprise, unless you've seen the trailer, but the film doesn't waste any time in bringing the laughs. From the moment we see Reggie mistakenly exaggerate Will Forte's loser owner Doug as a loving guardian instead of the abusive jerk he is, the film keeps the comedy flying, mostly using a mix of doggy misunderstandings, raunchy humor, and the kinds of things we might spend time watching on YouTube. The film isn't afraid to wallow in the filth either, with penises and poop playing into the humor.
The voice cast is perfect, with Will's ability to play up childlike wonder, even in the midst of making threats, perfect for Reggie's naivety and lack of 'big dog' attitude. Foxx contrasts as a streetwise, no nonsense, stray pup who uses the F word maybe one too many times and is all about the filthiest stuff in life. Isla Fisher feels maybe underutilized the most, as much of her humor bounces off the bigger personalities there, while Randall Park feels like he may be channeling his Human Resources voice and personality work as the dorky, uptight Hunter. It is Will Forte though that steals the show with every scene he's in, though they are pretty much all relegated to the beginning and end. This is Forte as we commonly know him and it's never anything but laugh out loud hilarious, especially in the ending.
The R rating here is very much earned and anyone who thinks an excess of raunchy humor would be too much will probably find this overdone. I personally found that the number of times the F word was used was forced and excessive, but it didn't detract from the film. Behind Joy Ride, there hasn't been a film this year where I have laughed this hard.