Backstreet Dogs

As a pet lover, seeing the trailer for this I knew I was going to have to see it asap. A funny film in the mould of the Ted movies, so don't expect subtlety, expect lots of crude humour.

The dogs are cute and we get a nice balance of characters (and breeds for that matter), and Reggie the lead Border Terrier is super cute. His owner, less so, treating him badly and trying to abandon this lovable and gullible dog!

The movie has a warm heart at its core, and as we experience all the escapades of the dogs we root for them to achieve their goal. I guess you need to really know or own a dog to really find it funny, and being adult in nature it has limited its market perhaps resulting in its poor box office takings.

None the less, I thought it was fun and enjoyable and would recommend it to have a laugh as a light movie with a beer in hand.

7/10.

I saw Strays at an early fan screening and there were a total of 10 people in my auditorium. This is the reason we barely see comedy movies any more, let alone R-rated ones that don't hold back.

Strays is fun and funny from beginning to end. The hit rate on the comedic attempts is high. Most of it made me laugh out loud. The rest made me at least smile. Comedy is subjective, and I personally love this type of crass comedy.

The casting is on point. I enjoyed all of the voice acting. But the one casting choice that I adored was Will Forte. I realized how much I miss him after rewatching MacGruber recently. He's absolutely perfect for the role.

For a relatively silly movie and concept, it does a surprisingly good job of getting you emotionally invested, even if you're not a dog person. After the movie I couldn't wait to see my cats.

(1 viewing, early fan screening 8/16/2023)

If the recent bout of comedies has taught me something, it's that a movie can be funny, good (on its merits minus the comedy), have a likable cast... but if the promotional marketing doesn't entice you in believing that the comedy has at least two of those three, then it's unlikely to gain any traction or attention. Because we were graced with a red band trailer, we would know exactly what kind of comedy it would provide. The plot felt basic enough to not expect Academy-level storytelling, so it is all up to that cast. We have dogs. Do you love dogs? Combined with the comedy, this may be just the movie for you.

I don't want to oversell things too much, as what you see in the red band trailer is the kind of comedy that you get. Jokes are surface level with sex, drugs, and plenty of foul language, mixed with plenty of dog antics. You might not laugh the hardest you've ever laughed, but it just makes sure that you laugh enough plenty of times. Jokes aren't ever cringy, just crude/try-hard enough to keep the smiles permeating. Somewhere is a PG-rated version of this that could exist, and I don't know if it would bring enough "laughs" or "good story" with the love of dogs to bring in the masses, so clearly Lord & Miller knew their selling point was to bring on the filthy.

The sell for me however was the dogs. I know that if we had the choice to hear dogs' thoughts we'd prefer not to, but we have ways of communicating for them ourselves and this movie does exactly that. Because they do, for dog owners and dog lovers out there, this can bring certain emotions that'll make you want to go home, hug your dog, and reassure them that they the greatest joy of your life. For all of the moments that bring you levity, somewhere Sarah McLachlan may be lurking around in your mind singing "Angel" and reminding you that dogs (and many other domesticated animals) tell us everything about what they're feeling without saying a word, and a raunchy slapstick comedy such as this one does so easily in about 90 minutes.

I never saw The Adventures of Milo and Otis or the live-action version of Lady and the Tramp, and I fast-forward through those other dog food commercials where they use CGI to open their mouths, but color me amazed when you have a film with animals as the stars. Half of the time I was watching, I sat there wondering how they achieved the shots that they wanted. It's quite adorable to think of these dogs as a cast of actors and they are trained to do certain things on command when the word "action" is called; in fact, this brings me back to feeling bad for some of the pooches when you put a funnel on them or shove them off of a couch for the sake of our entertainment. There are times where I'm sure they use visual effects trickery outside of mouth movement, but for the most part it seems you are seeing real dogs do real action. Speaking of which, I almost feel there would be a unique innocence if they didn't bother to move their mouths, so they speak more in "thought" than anything else. I think it would've worked just fine to anthropomorphize them a little less. That's neither here nor there, but it would save them on budget if they gave it a shot and it should still have good effect.

Will Ferrell was in where I find him best: portraying a fish-out-of-water character. In this case, a dog being a stray for the first time. Jamie Foxx was hilarious, but Randall Park as Hunter was my favorite and will probably be the most for others as well. Rob Riggle seems like an obvious choice to voice a dog but I felt his was a little more out of place, though he's not in it much to matter. Will Forte plays our main human character, and is the perfect jackass to motivate our strays. In fact, any time humans were around they really did help bring together that wholesome touch that remind us about the connection that makes dogs special as our best friends. This movie isn't written with tons of heart in mind, but in its very own nature you will find it if you care for our canine comrades as much as I do.

To bring it all together, it's funny enough without splitting your sides and cheats by throwing animals in your face as the cast, and yet because it is short and simple it is effective. They could've contained themselves more on the R-rating, but they have my blessing as a comedy if they think it'll make the audience laugh. This works, and I enjoyed myself.

Reggie is abandoned by his owner, he meets up with a small band of other homeless dogs, and vows one thing, revenge.

Well this came as a big surprise, after the complexities of Oppenheimer, it was just so good to sit and watch something easy going and fun. This really did serve as a pick me up for this awful summer of 2023.

It was nice to be in a packed cinema, one that was genuinely full of laughs, and whilst they trailered it heavily, they kept the best moments for the film.

Oh boy, I thought this was going to be a film to take the kids to see, they'd love it I don't doubt, but it's way more crude than I was expecting, it put me in mind of Ted, it's that cheeky, bell laugh brand of humour.

Rude and funny, loved it.

8/10.

Really surprised I went to watch this because it's not my type of movie but the R rating was soo appealing and I'm glad I went because it was a blast. Reminded me of Ted, the movie defied expectations. If you had come across teaser photos or muted clips, you might assume it's aimed at kids, but it's far from it.

If you're a dog lover, the emotional aspect will undoubtedly resonate with you more. Personally, I lean towards cats but dogs are fine, I guess. That didn't detract from how much I loved the movie's humor. It was undoubtedly its strong suit and what won me over. Despite its comedic focus, the film carried a meaningful message and theme that prevented it from being a mere laugh-fest. It blended everything in so well. I can already see the 'the best love is the hardest' message might hit home for some; definitely take that friend you know in a toxic relationship to watch this with at the cinema lol.

The plot, while not groundbreaking, wasn't a drawback for me, considering it's unrealistic to expect a talking dog movie to revolutionize storytelling. Initially, I felt Hunter's voice casting was slightly off, but got accustomed to it pretty quickly. I couldn't help but imagine Jamie Foxx's Bug as Samuel L. Jackson, although Foxx was still outstanding. Nice to see a mini-reunion between Josh Gad and Isla Fisher after Wolf Like Me, which I still think I'm the only one who loved it.

Soundtrack was cool. Again, this was funny, there's a few jokes too that can go unnoticed because they're not as prominent as the rest too. I loved the lighter-shade humans line. The cameos were pretty decent too, especially the couch. With a runtime of just over an hour and a half, the pacing was spot on, avoiding any unnecessary plot filler or rushed sequences. The film's message was relatable and skillfully written, making it clear that it wasn't merely about dogs. And random thought, did that kid really let a stray dog lick him all over the mouth?

Anyway, I'd definitely recommend, especially if you loved movies like Ted. It's not what it seems and is definitely a good laugh. And don't forget to stick around for the mid-credit scene; even though Google said there were no post-credit scenes, it's definitely worth the wait.