STRAYS
(15) 93mins
★★★★★
WITH an acid trip, murder cover-up and daring escape from captivity, you might think this is a dark thriller – or yet another Hangover movie.
But Strays is a rude and rip-roaringly funny film about an abandoned dog who teams up with other pooches to get revenge on his abusive owner.
It starts with sweet border terrier Reggie (voiced by Will Ferrell) living with his hate-filled owner Doug (Will Forte).
Doug’s an alcoholic stoner, who throws beer cans at the eager-to-please pooch and regularly calls him “the worst dog in the f***ing world”.
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When countless attempts to abandon Reggie fail, Doug drives him to the mean streets of New York and leaves him in a sketchy, needle-filled alley.
No longer able to find his way home, he’s saved from a mauling by a loudmouth Boston terrier named Bug (Jamie Foxx).
Reggie’s new friend loves nothing more than the freedom of being a stray and claims owners are for suckers.
Free from human control they live by three rules: One, if you want something, you pee on it.
Two, you can hump anything.
Three, you are on your own.
Before long, Reggie meets ex-police dog Hunter (Randall Park) and Maggie (Isla Fisher), whose owner ignores her after getting a cute and Instagrammable Pomeranian.
After a wild night scavenging pizza and getting drunk from beer in a rubbish bag, Reggie finally discovers what love and a real family is.
That’s when he decides to take revenge on Doug by targeting his “favourite toy”, which means, erm, “biting his d off”.
In a weird Homeward Bound meets The Wizard Of Oz-style adventure, the furry foursome start tracking their way back to Reggie’s old home.
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They are led by Maggie, who has a sense of smell so good she can tell what someone had for lunch three meals ago.
The journey gets increasingly hilarious and shocking and is cleverly punctuated with touching emotional moments.
With a stellar cast of comedic talent and plot twists few will see coming, this film is a real mutts-see for lovers of rude comedy.
BLUE BEETLE
(12A) 127mins
★★☆☆☆
WHEN Jaime Reyes is chosen by an ancient alien biotechnology and transformed into the Blue Beetle, he is granted special powers beyond his wildest dreams.
But it also puts him and his family in danger, as the tech is wanted by evil business mogul Victoria Kord to make “world-destroying weapons”.
Luckily for Jaime, his new exoskeleton suit comes with an unlimited arsenal of weapons, or, as explained by his guide: “Whatever you can imagine, I can create.”
Sadly, the one thing that can not be conjured up by this limitless tech is a compelling superhero movie.
Too silly, too cheesy and too obvious, Blue Beetle fails to pack a powerful punch when needed, especially when highlighting issues including elitism, racism, gentrification and ignorance.
Ironically, the film has a tone-deaf moment of its own when a character says gadgets are “like Batman tech, if he had ADHD”.
Blue Beetle is a family-friendly flick with some amusing moments that could satisfy some young children.
Anyone else who bothers to go and see it may want to take a pillow.
DULCIE PEARCE
LIE WITH ME
(15) 98mins
★★★☆☆
DRENCHED in a hazy autumnal glow, this beautifully shot tale of first love set in France is a cinematography treat.
Middle-aged author Stephane returns to his provincial home town in Cognac for the first time in 35 years.
As a young gay man he couldn’t wait to leave the small-town prejudices he grew up with for the more liberated city.
But now he is being paid to make a guest appearance at one of the luxury drinks brands the region is famous for, even though he doesn’t drink.
The return reignites memories of his teenage coming-of-age relationship with school friend Thomas, which was always clandestine as the closeted Thomas swore him to secrecy.
Yet at the distillery he is confronted with more than remembered echoes of his past when he meets Lucas, a young high-flyer whose resemblance to Thomas is not simply coincidental.
Adapted from a best-selling autobiography by writer Philippe Besson, director Olivier Peyon takes us between past and present with tenderness and a smattering of some welcome wry humour too.
LAURA STOTT