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‘Strays’ Review: New Comedy Is One Of The Funniest Of The Year

This piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the movie being covered here wouldn’t exist.

I’ve always been a huge fan of comedy movies in general and I used to enjoy most of them. Unfortunately, comedies don’t amuse me the way they used to: I don’t laugh as much anymore and I got really tired of them. The only comedies I honestly like are old ones like Ted, Grown Ups, and many other Adam Sandler movies.

However, Strays was surprisingly great. There’s not a lot to expect here, but it’s the type of movie where you can just have fun and enjoy what they’re delivering. Firstly, don’t take this film too seriously. The dogs in this movie, they have NO expressions at all. When they’re happy, sad, angry, disgusted, or scared, they’re always doing the same facial expressions. There are some scenes that are trying to be as emotional as possible, but just doesn’t hold that much emotional weight. It’s a fun flick, but don’t expect too much from it emotionally.

The movie tells the story of Reggie (Will Ferrell), a dog that lives with his owner Doug (Will Forte) and Reggie’s innocence wouldn’t let him realize that his owner is actually a terrible person and not the lovely guy he thought he was. Summing up everything: Reggie realizes Doug is an as*hole and so he decides to go on a journey to bite his owner’s d*ck off. Yes.

It’s an R-rated comedy, so what do we expect? For it to be funny, correct? Well, this movie is indeed the funniest movie of the year, funnier than another nice comedy movie being No Hard Feelings. Strays got some huge laughs out of me indeed, which I was not expecting also considering I’m not a huge fan of these dog movies where they talk, but this wasn’t a problem here.

Strays manages to bring an amazing cast. Jamie Foxx and Will Ferrell are the main standouts, but Isla Fisher and Randall Park are also spectacular. They delivered a funny, wacky, and enjoyable performance that will make you laugh your brains out. As for the jokes, they work out most of the time. The “Catch and F*ck” game is something that was really funny and I loved how they brought some really funny jokes and at the perfect moments.

The CGI is exceptional throughout this film. However, the dog’s facial expressions are something really weird to see. I can’t really take this movie seriously so it wasn’t a big of a deal for me. Technically this movie doesn’t have a lot to complain about, is well done and well worked, a solid flick overall.

There’s not a lot to expect, but Strays is the funniest movie of the year. Good jokes with great timing and an well assembled cast brings a solid and wacky R-rated comedy. The movie has some technical issues at certain points. Fortunately, there’s not a lot to complain considering this is not that type of movie for you to take it seriously.

★★★½

Strays releases in theaters on August 18.

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