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Movie Review: Strays

Mike Tyrkus

The new comedy Strays, despite sporting an “R” rating for an abundance of sexual content and foul language, still manages to play out and deliver as a family film of sorts – albeit one you’ll more than likely want to steer your younger children away from (at least until they’re a bit older).

Strays is the story of a sweetly optimistic Border Terrier named Reggie (voiced by Will Ferrell) who is abandoned by his dirtbag owner Doug (Will Forte), but still desperately wants to find his way back to what he believes is a loving and caring home. Once he’s on his own however, Reggie falls in with a group of strays that include a foul-mouthed Boston Terrier named Bug (voiced by Jamie Foxx), an Australian Shepherd named Maggie (voiced by Isla Fisher), and an overly anxious Great Dane named Hunter (voiced by Randall Park) who works as an emotional support animal after washing out as a police dog. Together, the four new friends embark on an odyssey to get Reggie back home to exact revenge on Doug for abandoning him in the first place.

Director Josh Greenbaum plays the film honestly – that is, the pups all behave like human characters and the story simply treats them as such, but they also happen to be canines – and the comedy feels more organic and less forced because of it. There’s a scene where the starving dogs find some mushrooms in the woods to feast upon as they retrace Reggie’s trip from Doug’s that could be pulled from a much raunchier film and prove far more vulgar, but here it plays as charming and delightful. Credit goes to Dan Perrault for penning a screenplay wherein the canine characters are treated as fully realized characters with human traits and sensibilities rather than making them simply one-dimensional representations of a pack of dogs.

“Strays.” Photo by Chuck Zlotnick/Universal Picture – © Universal Studios. All Rights Reserved.

While Ferrell’s work as Reggie is the emotional crux of the film, and it is easy to get swept up in the little guy’s journey and tribulations as he proves to be a delightful character unto himself, a hero is only as good as his villain and Forte’s Doug is an honestly despicable example of humanity. The character is so awful that when Reggie and his friends ultimately confront him, there is a cathartic release of sorts for the audience and no sympathy felt for Doug’s fate in the slightest. As Reggie’s compadres all three actors – Foxx, Fisher, and Park – are given moments to allow their characters to display honest depth and real growth throughout the film.

Although it may not be the kind of family film one might expect from a Will Ferrell-voiced “dog” film, Strays is ultimately an endearing portrayal of the kind of lasting friendships forged in the face of real adversity – albeit with a few more swears and raunchy situations than most films of the like might sport.

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Mike Tyrkus

Editor in Chief at CinemaNerdz.com
An independent filmmaker, co-writer and director of over a dozen short films, the Editor in Chief of CinemaNerdz.com has spent much of the last three decades as a writer and editor specializing in biographical and critical reference sources in literature and the cinema, beginning in February 1991 reviewing films for his college newspaper. He was a member of the Detroit Film Critics Society, as well as the group's webmaster and one-time President for over a decade until the group ceased to exist. His contributions to film criticism can be found in Magill's Cinema Annual, VideoHound's Golden Movie Retriever (of which he was the editor for nearly a decade until it too ceased to exist), the International Dictionary of Films and Filmmakers, and the St. James Film Directors Encyclopedia (on which he collaborated with editor Andrew Sarris). He has also appeared on the television program Critic LEE Speaking alongside Lee Thomas of FOX2 and Adam Graham, of The Detroit News. He currently lives in the Detroit area with his wife and their dogs.

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