Why the Talking-Dog Movie 'Strays' Is Not for Kids: What to Know About the Raunchy R-Rated Comedy

"Strays" director Josh Greenbaum said "none of us were surprised" when the comedy landed its R rating

Make no mistake, parents: This talking-dog movie is for the grownups.

Strays, which opens in theaters on Friday, is not geared to children despite its cuddly stars. Billed as a "subversion of the dog movies we know and love," the comedy is rated R for "pervasive language, crude and sexual content, and drug use."

The foul-mouthed pups are voiced by: Will Ferrell as a Border Terrier named Reggie; Jamie Foxx as a Boston Terrier named Bug; Isla Fisher as a Australian Shepherd named Maggie; and Randall Park as a Great Dane named Hunter.

Other cast members include Will Forte, Josh Gad, Harvey Guillén, Brett Gelman, Rob Riggle, Jamie Demetriou and Sofia Vergara.

Director Josh Greenbaum (Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar) told Collider that the Motion Picture Association, which decides film ratings, thought Strays was a "definitive R; there was not really much discussion."

"None of us were surprised by that. To be honest, if my memory serves, I don't believe we had to [make changes]. I think it was in the wheelhouse, and maybe there [were] one or two tiny things, but I don't think so. I think we fit into that category and it worked."

Greenbaum also shared that Ferrell, 56, asked one of his teenage sons whether he should make the movie.

"He was asking his youngest, who probably was 13 at the time, 12 or 13, 'Hey Axel, would you want to see me in an R-rated talking-dog movie, where the mission for me, along with my other stray dog friends is bite my owner's d--- off?' And Axel was like, 'One thousand percent, yes, do the movie immediately.' And so Will, I think half-jokingly, credits his son with green-lighting him getting involved," the director said.

Apart from featuring plenty of coarse language, Strays also sees the dog group get high after eating wild mushrooms, and includes what a press release referred to as "the unexpected virtues of couch-humping." The raunchy red band trailer for the film gives a taste of what to expect.

Director Greenbaum told Slashfilm the filmmakers were "dialing up and down the knobs" to push the boundaries of an R rating while making the movie.

"You're always trying to figure out where the line is," he said. "Once you've gotten into the R-rated kind of outrageous comedy, I think you want to push that line because you want to surprise an audience."

And, Greenbaum didn't want the movie to be a parody of the genre, rather standing on its own four feet.

"Ultimately, the film is not a spoof movie, which is why I loved it when I first read it. It really operates on its own. We send up that genre that I love, like Homeward Bound, Milo and Otis, Beethoven, all those kind of fun films," he explained. "There are moments where we send that up, but the film really functions on its own."

"... It actually has a lot more heart and an emotional center. It's outrageous and funny and loud and irreverent and all the things you can hopefully glean from the trailer," Greenbaum continued. "But I'm very excited to say that it also has this very surprising emotional center, which is really important for me as a filmmaker."

Strays is in theaters Friday.

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