The 2023 movie schedule has been filled with offbeat films, between Cocaine Bear, Beau Is Afraid and the Winnie the Pooh horror movie, but the year is only halfway over. One of this week’s high-profile releases is Strays, a rated-R talking dog movie that’s something of a raunchy Homeward Bound. When the movie’s director spoke about making the film, he talked about what it was like to get some of Strays’ voice cast in the same room, and it sounds like making this wild comedy was an absolute blast.
When Josh Greenbaum spoke about his experience making the movie, he gushed about pairing up Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx in particular. Oh, what I would have given to have been a fly on the wall during those recording sessions. Here’s what he said:
They do a session and they read their lines opposite a director like myself and I'm not a professional actor. So, having a Will Ferrell, not just because he's so good at playing that sweet, innocent, naive Reggie/Buddy the Elf, which is a great reference. But, knowing that when he wants to go toe to toe with Jamie Foxx, who's an unbelievable comedian and Isla Fisher or Randall Park. And, I did get them in a room together. So, all their sessions, they were there and they could improv and riff. It's like, that's when Will Ferrell comes alive.
Greenbaum made the smart decision to get the improv actors together when recording their lines, especially because bouncing off one another’s energies and humor is a reason why those talents are so funny. Josh Greenbaum also said this to ComicBook:
That's why you love him because it's like he'll come up with a joke or a take or a delivery of something that you just never saw coming. At one point, Jamie and Will were in a session together and I'll never forget it. [They'd] never worked together and it was like watching these two comedy greats just hit the ball back and forth. At one point, I think we had a bathroom break and I said, 'Man, it's going so great,' and Jamie looks at me and he's like, 'You know, what Will's like? He's an unbelievable knuckleball pitcher. You just don't know. He's got all the fastball, he's got all the jokes. But, whatever he's coming at you with, it's different every time. It's fresh, and it keeps you on your toes.' I just love that analogy.
It sounds like Ferrell and Foxx were majorly vibing in the vocal booth for what became their first time working with one another in their careers. In Strays, Ferrell plays Reggie, a fiercely loyal pup to his owner, while Foxx’s French bulldog Bug is a more hardened doggo. The movie features predominantly real dog performances, a fact that even surprises the director with actors like Ferrell and Foxx voicing them. The production even captured the real dogs humping in the raunchy movie as part of the comedy’s many hilarious bits.
As the movie hits theaters, Strays is receiving mixed reviews from critics overall, with reviews not holding back about their thoughts on the movie’s content. CinemaBlend gave the movie a three out of five stars in its Strays review, with Eric Eisenberg sharing that the comedy is an “impressive feat of filmmaking” thanks to what it was able to capture from the canine performers, but ultimately he didn’t find it to be that funny.
Along with Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx obviously having a blast as their dog characters, the movie also features the voice performances of Isla Fisher, Randall Park, Sofia Vergara and Josh Gad along with Will Forte, Brett Gelman, Greta Lee and Dennis Quaid playing humans in the live-action movie. You can check out Strays in theaters now.
