Strays (2023) review

Deadbeat stoner Doug (Will Forte) inherits his Border Terrier Reggie (voiced by Will Ferrell) from the ex-girlfriend he cheated on but despises the dog, drives him to a city far away and leaves him there - later, Reggie teams up with other abandoned canines Bug (Jamie Foxx), Maggie (Isla Fisher) and Hunter (Randall Park) to track down and punish Doug for his cruelty.  Any potential uplifting message regarding the importance of treating our furry friends with love and dignity gets obliterated by the insistence on having them use explicit language and talk constantly about urination, feces, vomit and erections (and showing, in graphic detail, all of those things) which might appeal to a mischievous ten-year-old boy and no one else (which is ironic, since it was given an R-rating).  It's possible to make a movie with real animals and have it be meaningful as opposed to criminally unfunny - 1989's Baxter, for example, has a killer Bull Terrier narrating his inner thoughts using voice-over, not unlike Labrador Retriever Gus (Josh Gad).  As an alternative to viewing this, I suggest watching clips of Robert Smigel's Triumph the Insult Comic Dog on YouTube, which are considerably wittier.