Strays (2023)

Strays is about talking stray dogs who go after an abandoned dog’s owner for his neglect and abuse. The premise of Strays is relatively amusing, but it fails to deliver because of its shallowness and complete lack of originality. The movie’s tone is raunchy and irreverent, almost entirely focused on crude humour and shock value — two things that many comedians now seem to think are the only way to be funny.

Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx, who do the voices for two of the dogs, put in solid performances, but the other cast members are forgettable. The characters are one-dimensional, lack significant development, and make it impossible to care about what happens to them. Almost everything about this movie is unremarkable — the direction, the score, and the cinematography, none of which adds anything to the film. As they speak, the dogs’ mouths are done well, but it’s all been done before, and there’s nothing impressive about any of it. The dialogue is crude and vulgar, with very few, if any, memorable lines.

At best, Strays is mediocre. There were the occasional amusing moments (none that were laugh-out-loud funny), and the whole thing was forgettable. If I had to recommend it to someone, I’d say die-hard Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx fans who are looking for mindless, raunchy, crude, coarse comedy might enjoy it. Anyone else should probably skip it.

(In cinemas in Australia – check your local movie guide for show times.)