In 1963, Disney released the heart-warming adventure movie, The Incredible Journey. It followed the travails of an unlikely trio: Bodger, a bull terrier, Luath, a Labrador, and Tao, a Siamese cat, as they set out for home across 300 miles of unforgiving, bear-infested Canadian wilderness. It was remade in 1993 as Homeward Bound: The Incredible Journey, now featuring Chance, an American bulldog, Shadow, a golden retriever, and Sassy, a Himalayan cat.
Josh Greenbaum and Dan Perrault, director and writer respectively of new R-rated comedy Strays, have declared themselves fans of Homeward Bound, and of the "talking dog" genre in general. Perhaps not surprisingly then, their four lead characters are also pets, and also on a mission for home. Reggie, a border terrier, Bug, a Boston terrier, Hunter, a great Dane, and Maggie, an Australian shepherd, are trying to cross the wilds of Atlanta’s Piedmont Park and beyond to reunite Reggie with his owner, Doug.
Oh, and when they find Doug, they’re going to “bite his dick off”, because Homeward Bound this ain't. But if you think this is a) hilarious, and b) enough motivation to sustain a 90-minute feature film then SIT! Because you’re in for a treat.
To be fair, Doug (Will Forte) has it coming. The opening sequence of Strays is reminiscent of one of those here-have-my-credit-card RSPCA ads, as Reggie, voiced by Will Ferrell, explains his unwavering devotion to his loser owner, who reciprocates by treating him roughly, feeding him inadequately, and doing his best to get rid of him at every opportunity.
This Doug eventually succeeds in doing by driving Reggie three hours away to a grimy backstreet, throwing his favourite tennis ball under a chain-link fence, and hightailing it back to his bong and his nunchucks. For poor little Reggie – his fur all matted, his only clothing a bandana round his neck which Doug uses for his “penis sneezes” – things do not look good.
But hold up! Because here comes Bug, a loud-mouthed, twig-legged scruff voiced by Jamie Foxx, who turns up just in time to take Reggie under his paw and show him the ways of the streets. “You want something, you pee on it!” Bug tells Reggie. Same goes for humping, he explains, introducing his abandoned couch/girlfriend, Dolores, whom Bug says he attended to recently: “Best sex of my life”.
Reggie, who's an affable guy, soon starts to get used to his adjusted circumstances and, with new friends Hunter (Randall Park), a former police recruit now working as a therapy dog, and Maggie (Isla Fisher), a prized beauty who’s recently been passed up for a younger, cuter model, hatches his plan for grizzly (gristly?) redemption.
You’re not going to believe this, but along the way, there are some obstacles. Also, some hijinks. Some involve dog vomit. Some involve dog shit. A lot of them involve dog dicks, and their relative size. There are also the more trad mutt-movie themes of friendship, heroism, finding that perfect little Girl Guide who’s going to love you forever, and just revelling in some of the cute stuff that doggies do. They hate fireworks! They sniff each other’s bum-holes! They turn in circles before they go to sleep for no apparent reason!
Maybe for dog lovers, it’s cat nip. Having said that, given its slightly discordant twin strands, it's still hard not to wonder, while watching this movie, who exactly it is for. My primary-school-aged kids liked the sound of it, though I left out the part where Bug describes “tongue-fucking a dead squirrel” (then they’d have been really keen).
Is it for today’s frat boys, gagging for a new era of National Lampoon or Farrelly Brothers-style gross-out comedy? Is it for yesterday’s frat boys, gagging for a nostalgic re-tread (hopefully not into the carpet)? Or maybe, in today’s highly-sensitised age, gross-out comedies are a useful genre for film-makers and studios to revisit generally, as a way of seeming “edgy” without really offending anyone – at least until the abandoned couches start sharing their stories.
Whatever your age, persuasion or current chemical intake, there are some funny gags in Strays – or rather, more frequently, there are funny deliveries of lines that are not, in themselves, especially funny, thanks to spirited voice performances, especially from Foxx. Also, whoever the hell was responsible for making the pooches’ mouths look like they’re really talking – no Mr Ed-style chewing here – should get a congratulatory head-pat (Hey doggie actors! You might want to unionise sharpish because the AI is upon you!).
So no, though it feels a bit stick-up-the-ass to say it, Strays is not amazing. But that’s not to say it won’t find its audience, just as Sausage Party and Ted did before it. Because isn't there, somewhere out there, a cabal of big-hearted teenage dudes just waiting to give this disgustingly loveable/loveably disgusting comedy a forever-home?
To borrow HL Mencken’s oft-proven sentiment, you wouldn’t bet against it. And hey, who's to say it won't have a broader appeal. If, indeed, it sounds like the kind of film you've been searching for – because you want to see an adult man smeared in dog doo-doo, or a Great Dane’s wanger swinging in slo-mo – then you’ll be pleased to know that that your quest is over. It’s here, boy.
Strays is in cinemas now
Miranda Collinge is the Deputy Editor of Esquire, overseeing editorial commissioning for the brand. With a background in arts and entertainment journalism, she also writes widely herself, on topics ranging from Instagram fish to psychedelic supper clubs, and has written numerous cover profiles for the magazine including Cillian Murphy, Rami Malek and Tom Hardy.
