That said, you might also have to go all the way back to 1980’s “Raging Bull” to find another film where the word ‘fuck’ was used so frequently.
Suffice to say, this is not your parent’s “Benji” or “Lassie.” This is not your little brother’s “Marmaduke.” This is definitely not a movie for children, no matter how much they argue that the pooches are super cute.
“Strays” is a hard-R adult comedy about a scrappy pup named Reggie (Ferrell) who decides to emasculate his owner Doug (Will Forte) in the worst possible way—by biting his dick off for being a shit human and a terrible pet parent.
I haven’t laughed this hard since “Sausage Party,” and that Seth Rogen joint didn’t even include a scene where a Great Dane’s penis becomes a critical tool in an attempted jailbreak from a county pet shelter.If it hadn’t been so funny, I might feel a little scarred.
It all starts when Doug drives Reggie three hours away from Doug’s dilapidated residence for a game of Fetch and Fuck. It’s basically Doug’s way of trying to abandon Reggie by throwing a ball as far as possible in a strange environment and then driving away as quickly as possible. It’s only when Reggie eventually returns with the ball, that Doug says “Fuck,” and Reggie knows he has won the game.
Only this time, Reggie gets super lost. Then he meets Bug (Foxx), a foul-mouthed but lovable Boston Terrier, who introduces him to Maggie (Isla Fisher), a border collie, and the aforementioned Great Dane, Hunter (Randall Park), a failed police K9 prospect who now works as a therapy dog for a local hospice.
The foursome embark on their own, twisted version of “The Incredible Journey,” albeit one with watersports, magic mushrooms, a bizarre Dennis Quaid cameo, a well-timed mass pooping that helps then escape capture and the final battle with Doug and his dick.
Should it work? No. No, not at all. But it does.
Try not to laugh when Reggie argues with his pals that Doug might have actually cared for him because instead of a microchip and collar, he tied a crusty bandanna around Reggie’s neck.
“The bandanna he gave me is way more special,” Reggie implores. “He used it for his penis sneezes!”
Over, and over, and over again, “Strays” keeps delivering the giggles, the guffaws and a healthy heaping of OMFG moments.
Bad dogs, indeed.
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This article appears in Aug 17-23, 2023.