The talking dog film probably won't be a new or novel concept for anyone who has enjoyed the syrupy confections of Josh Gad's A Dog's series, nor the sight of the CGI moving mouth franchise of Disney's Buddies collection – Santa Paws is a particular treat if you're in the mood for festive furry adventures with some orphans. But even going as far back as The Incredible Journey: Homeward Bound making animals talk in a realistic way has been the backbone of family cinema. That it's taken quite so long for someone to give it a foul-mouthed spin is quite the question.
Taking the typical premise of these films, little dog Reggie (voiced by Will Ferrell) believes his life with his owner Doug (Will Forte) is perfect until Doug leaves him in the city and he meets streetwise Bug (voiced by Jamie Foxx), along with neurotic Hunter (voiced by Randall Park) and excellent sniffer Maggie (voiced by Isla Fisher) they go on a mission to return to Doug and bite his penis off. No seriously.
It would be easy to write the film off a dreadful, and for the most part it's a mish-mash of typical Will Ferrell innocence, and Jamie Foxx smooth talking but from a Border Terrier and French Bulldog respectively. It's gross-out, lots of talk of dog poo, how big Hunter's penis is, anuses, and the ongoing desire to bite a man's penis off. But there are moments in the film where the parody is particularly sharp. A Josh Gad cameo as a “narrator dog” underlines the absurdity of his dog friendly franchise with a dark undercurrent, and a mushroom trip ending in horror is also very well played.
The voice acting is as good as you would expect. Ferrell is doing classic dumb nativity which worked so well in Elf but nearly twenty years on is just wearing thin, while Foxx's knack for chewing a line for maximum comedy is well played. An extended voice role for Rob Riggle as a police dog is very welcome. But it's actually Fisher and Park who get the best work out of their characters, the will they / won't they works incredibly well and underlines the inherent tropes of this sub-genre of entertainment.
There is also the fact the these are cute doggos and no matter how bland or vulgar a film is showing a dog running is incredibly watchable. It's the moments of dog-perspective and incisive humour that make you wish the whole film was this funny. For all the talk of sex with couches, and taking a wee on things, one of the best sequences is the juxtaposition between fireworks from the perspective of a dog – horrific, like something from a war movie, to humans – mild amusement. It's here that the film gains the best moments but sadly they are all too fleeting.
Your enjoyment of gross-out, profanity laced humour will decide if this is a must watch or not, but despite there being ample ground to farm, the film feels all too happy to roll around in its dog filth.
