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Strays initially centres around a small Border Terrier, Reggie (Will Ferrell – Barbie), who loves his owner, Doug (Will Forte – The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part), but “Doug loves his penis much more” (aka his ‘custard launcher). Reggie was actually bought by Doug’s girlfriend, but when she left – after a situation where the dog revealed a thong, which was revealed NOT to have belonged to her – he kept Reggie only to spite her.
Together, they play “Fetch and fuck”, in which Doug drives him miles away from home, shouts “Fetch!” as he throws a stick, then mutters the other word when the canine actually finds his way back home. However, one day, Reggie can’t get back, so falls in with a rag tag bunch of stray dogs, mainly Boston Terrier Bug (Jamie Foxx – They Cloned Tyrone), Australian Shepherd Maggie (Isla Fisher – Grimsby) and Great Dane Hunter (Randall Park – Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, who I actually thought – from the voice – was Ryan Reynolds at one point)
Early on, Bug teaches him that if you pee on something, that means you’ve claimed ownership, such as lamposts; they run about town, bumping into angry rottweilers, and inadvertently snack on some magic mushrooms. But… once he realises he’s been abandoned, Reggie declares he’s going to confront Doug and “bite his dick off!”.
There’s good gags even for tertiary characters, such as a ‘Narrator dog’ that they come across, a scene with two teenagers, and Dennis Quaid, who refers to his own name – even though he’s credited as Birdwatcher. To me, though, he was dressed exactly as he is in A Dog’s Purpose, another film where you’d hear the inner monologue of a canine.
Overall, Strays won’t win any Oscars, but while there’s a lot of fun in here, it does go on a bit, even at 93 minutes from start to finish. The audience certainly enjoyed it, too. I doubt it would have a lot of rewatch value, though.
There’s also a mid-credits scene, for which you can see info about in the video below.
Strays is in cinemas now, and is available to pre-order on Blu-ray and DVD.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 93 minutes
Release date: August 25th 2023
Studio: Universal Pictures
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Cinema: Cineworld Didsbury
Rating: 6.5/10
Director: Josh Greenbaum
Producers: Erik Feig, Louis Leterrier, Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Dan Perrault, Aditya Sood
Screenplay: Dan Perrault
Music: Dara Taylor
(Mostly voice) Cast:
Reggie: Will Ferrell
Bug: Jamie Foxx
Maggie: Isla Fisher
Hunter: Randall Park
Doug: Will Forte
Willy: Brett Gelman
Rolf: Rob Riggle
Gus: Josh Gad
Dolores the Couch: Sofia Vergara
Chester: Jamie Demetriou
Bella: Greta Lee
Finn the Rottweiler: Jimmy Tatro
Shitstain: Harvey Guillén
Munchkin: Jack De Sanz
Bubsy: Philip Morris
Underbite Pound Dog: David Herman
Afghan Hound: Jaquita Tale
Jenna: Charity Cervantes
Ashley: Jade Marie Fernandez
Riley: Mikayla Rousseau
Riley’s Dad: Mike Dolphy
Emma: Aven Lotz
Emma’s Mom: Hannah Alline
Emma’s Dad: Garrett Hines
Dr. Hagen: Dan Perrault
Birdwatcher: Dennis Quaid
Steve: Keith Brooks
Carly: Hedy Nasser
James: Dexter Masland
Teen Girl: Gabriella Garcia
Teenage Boy: Andrew Nicolas Starr
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.