IR Film Review: STRAYS [Universal]
"Strays" is an interesting experiment in adult comedy which gets many things right in terms of its narrative and metaphor but loses more in terms of how far it is willing to go in terms of taste. The crux of the element here is hearing a film that sounds improvised but was probably heavily scripted to a fault in its tone in order to get some of the quips that the dogs have to go through. The casting of the dogs is completely spot on in terms of the voices. Will Ferrell plays Reggie, the dog on his odyssey to find his way back to his horrible master Doug (Will Forte) with a sense of hope and enthusiasm that is only swayed in a small way. Ferrell plays it dead straight for the most part for Reggie which is the right approach. Most of the quips (as seen in the trailer) are funny but it is when it goes too R, that it seems not really needed or as effective.
The swearing is fine but certain situations (in terms of ultimate set up) don't add anything really to the mix (and could have been done in a different way). The basic story and the stops on their journey are solid enough in most of the scenes that they could have been trimmed. The issue then is that the film might not have been long enough for release. Again it is tricky approach on this one, especially with adult comedy and expectation. Again I think "Good Boys" which came from the same company, had the same problem but with much different stars but an adjacent tone. Jamie Foxx plays Bug well in comparison to Ferrell too. What really works here is when the character takes the piss/air out of himself and you see the vulnerable/scared person beneath. This is where the best character work is...and Foxx gets this. Foxx has to play it up on one side and bring it down on another. And again it works just as long as it doesn't need to go over the fence with an extra line. It does...and it still works but not as much as if it stopped before.
This is never going to be a family friendly film but it does have some classical themes. Isla Fisher as Maggie (a collie) and Randall Park as Hunter (a Great Dane) are great and are less improv than the other two stars. But again the situations, meant to be cringy and gross out, weren't necessarily needed to the length they were done. Just some of the jokes (again the ones in the trailer...and similar) were the ones that really hit the mark. As the movie moves towards its end, there is alot of good will and character built that was already accomplished (easily acheived by a soft R and not a hard R which is ultimately is) to give a sense of connection and empathy for the dogs. "Strays" is a good idea with the technology in the right spot and with the right comic actors but with a tone that simply went over the line a couple too many times (likely in the script stage) when less (not much less...but less) might have been more. C
By Tim Wassberg
