Strays
Universal Pictures | Release Date: August 18, 2023 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
54
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 45 Critic Reviews
Positive:
18
Mixed:
22
Negative:
5
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Los Angeles TimesGary GoldsteinAug 18, 2023
The swearing and gross-out humor loses its bite after a while. We’re left with an at times heartfelt and enjoyably observed story that may hold interest with more patient viewers but, due to some episodic scene work and slack pacing, leave others restless. Read full review
60
Time OutOlly RichardsAug 17, 2023
It’s not one of this summer’s strongest entries, but it’s fun to spend 90 minutes in this dog-eat-dick world. Read full review
60
EmpireJohn NugentAug 17, 2023
An exuberantly bad-taste ode to our poochy pals. Dumb & Dumber, but for dogs. Read full review
60
The TelegraphTim RobeyAug 17, 2023
It might have been a classic stoner comedy if far-out outweighed the gross-out. Read full review
60
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzAug 17, 2023
The incongruity is shocking at first but wears off after a while, making Strays a good and funny bet for stumbling over while channel-surfing (or whatever the streaming version of that is), but not a lot more. Read full review
60
IGNA.A. DowdAug 17, 2023
The filmmakers definitely go for it in the gross-out gag department, with jokes about droppings and marking and red rockets. But beneath the vulgar laughs, this is a comedy nearly as formulaic and sentimental as the sappy tearjerkers it's lampooning. Its bark is worse than its bite. Read full review
60
BBCCaryn JamesAug 17, 2023
The film has its entertaining, off-the-wall comic moments. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubLeigh MonsonAug 17, 2023
For what it’s worth, Strays is nominally funny, but in a way that rarely provokes genuine laughs, just chuckles of appreciation. It’s a breezy, inconsequential film that will drip from the wrinkles of your brain like slobber from a chew toy, but as a late-summer distraction, maybe that’s enough. Read full review
50
ObserverEmily ZemlerAug 18, 2023
The movie, which hovers between ridiculous crass comedy and oddly touching moments of sweetness, is completely inane. But that silliness may also be what makes it somewhat endearing and, certainly, entertaining. Read full review
50
The Associated PressJocelyn NoveckAug 18, 2023
There’s a lot of gross, both kinda and mega, over this film’s 93-minute running time. Also a lot of poop jokes, and penis jokes, both canine and human. You get the picture. Read full review
50
Chicago Sun-TimesRichard RoeperAug 17, 2023
With Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx as the lead pups, Strays delivers a handful of solid chuckles and a few laugh-out-loud moments — but it’s a premise that turns out to be awfully thin for a feature-length film. Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsAug 17, 2023
So what’s missing? The usual scarcities in modern screen comedy: visual finesse and some wit to go with the gross-out stuff. Little things start adding up against Strays. Read full review
50
Screen DailyTim GriersonAug 17, 2023
Will Ferrell and Jamie Foxx are clearly enjoying themselves voicing their very different characters — Ferrell naive and energetic, Foxx cynical and streetwise — but apart from a few inspired moments, the outrageousness soon drags. Read full review
50
Washington PostMichael O'SullivanAug 17, 2023
There are laughs to be had here, yes, but your mileage will vary depending on your tolerance for sophomoric bathroom humor and gratuitous vulgarity. Read full review
50
IndieWireSamantha BergesonAug 17, 2023
The film also boasts unexpectedly great voice acting; it’s not an exaggeration to say that Oscar winner Foxx thrives as the voice of Bug. Read full review
40
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Sarah-Tai BlackSep 22, 2023
With what is clearly Perrault’s first feature script, the stars here struggle to keep up their energy in what adds up to be 93 minutes of crude jokes. Read full review
40
The Observer (UK)Wendy IdeAug 20, 2023
Strays is a film that leans heavily on gross-out gags and a pre-adolescent fascination with pee and poop. Read full review
40
Paste MagazineBrianna ZiglerAug 18, 2023
Strays is bad, but it’s not offensively so—and it’s certainly better and more watchable than something like Cocaine Bear (a low bar to cross, albeit). Read full review
40
The Irish TimesDonald ClarkeAug 17, 2023
Too drippy and half-cocked to bother defending. Read full review
40
Total FilmNeil SmithAug 17, 2023
A swearing dog voiced by Jamie Foxx is funny – once. Having set up its ribald premise, however, Strays – an R-rated riposte to such talking-pooch heart-stirrers as 2017’s A Dog’s Purpose, complete with cameos from that film’s stars – has to relentlessly and tiresomely up the ante, plastering the screen with so many peeing, pooping, and humping tail-waggers it feels more like A Dog’s Porno. Read full review
40
The Daily BeastNick SchagerAug 17, 2023
Any grown-up’s desire for such material will be swiftly neutered by [the film], which despite boasting the participation of genuinely funny people like Will Ferrell, Jaime Foxx, Isla Fisher, and Randall Park is a mirthless mutt of a movie. Read full review
40
The IndependentClarisse LoughreyAug 17, 2023
The film has a tendency to circle around the same jokes like a dog chasing its own tail (the film reminds us that they like to do this, too). Read full review
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