Stories about animals with a human way of thinking are published regularly. Moreover, these are often touching and heart-warming stories designed to bring a smile and warmth to the soul. But sometimes films about animals go into more outrageous and even somewhat trashy territory. “Tramps” is just such a “good trashy” case. In our review we tell you exactly how the movie turned out.
Pros: good humor for every taste; cute and well-realized animals in the main roles; a simple but solid story with its own morals and eternal ideas Cons: if you can’t stomach “toilet” humor, this film is not for you
“Tramps” / Strays
Genre Comedy
Director Josh Greenbaum
Starring Will Ferrell, Jamie Foxx, Isla Fisher, Randall Park, Will Forte
Premiere cinemas
Release year 2023
IMDb website
Border terrier Reggie (Will Ferrell) loves his owner Doug (Will Forte), even if the latter shows nothing but hatred and hostility towards the animal. During one of the “games,” Doug takes Reggie very far from home and leaves him to his fate.
Reggie meets other dogs – Boston terrier Bug (Jamie Foxx), Australian shepherd Maggie (Isla Fisher) and Great Dane Hunter (Randall Park). Together they go on a journey with a not very noble, but important goal – to take revenge on Doug by biting off his penis.
The comedy genre in modern cinema has been significantly reduced. Jokes have spread across all sorts of blockbusters, and pure-blooded films aimed at causing laughter are almost never released today.
And the “toilet humor” of the level of “Ted” and early MTV is almost gone. Society has become more critical of all sharp and “low” jokes, but no one has canceled cancel culture, which is why screenwriters, directors and producers try to avoid problematic topics.
“Tramps” deals with the theme of hard jokes in an elegant way. The film is full of provocative, vulgar and downright rude scenes. But everything is saved by the fact that this is a film about dogs, not about people. And this greatly frees the hands of the film crew.
From the very first seconds, the film is not shy about provocative expressions and scenes, but through the prism of a dog’s perception they look calmer and even somewhat cute. And when it comes to the intimate and not-so-details of the lives of the dogs themselves, then this does not seem to be some kind of extreme. These are our beloved and beloved pets, what other questions could there be?
The movie literally inundates viewers with jokes about excrement, vomit, sex in various forms and other not very pleasant nuances. But the screenwriters integrated them into the narrative so competently that not a single joke stands out from the general series or ruins the narrative.
In addition, there are plenty of interesting and creative solutions here. For example, the scene with drugs here is implemented in a rather unconventional way and will definitely be remembered by you.
“Vagabonds” is not just a collection of vulgar and not so vulgar jokes, but also a story about revenge, the search for your true self and true friends.
Moreover, wrapped in a somewhat simple, but still effective version of a “road adventure”. This means that the film will additionally delight you with an interesting story and a constant change of locations, so you won’t get bored here.
The dog protagonists themselves are well realized here. They were shot almost without the use of computer graphics. With the help of CGI they only animated their speech, but everything was done so well that there is no “uncanny valley” effect here. And yes, all the dogs here are extremely cute and cute – even when they do, let’s say, far from cute and cute things.
In the turbulent history of “Vagabonds” there was also room for simple but important morals. They provide contrast and complement the main part of the film, which is likely to have you laughing out loud. The script does not slide into something “sweet” at all, and the final moments generally bring to the maximum the ideas that were put into the film at the very beginning.
It’s strange and unusual to praise a film in which a significant part of the jokes is tied to dog sex. Here I remember “Cocaine Bear,” which also seemed like a trash adventure, but in the end it was about family values.
“Vagabonds” doesn’t experiment too much with structure and morality; jokes are always in the foreground. But aside from jokes, the film does not forget about other important elements for a good movie.
Separately, it is worth highlighting the Ukrainian dubbing. He is as expressive as possible here and is not shy about interesting expressions, which in the context of the film look appropriate and even complement the already colorful atmosphere. Believe me, this is one of the best Ukrainian dubbing works of the year for sure.
Conclusion:
“Vagabonds” will be great entertainment for anyone who can afford to be “a little simpler.” There are great jokes and cute dogs for almost every taste. It’s a little strange to see such a film in 2023, but given the positive emotions it evokes, there’s no desire to complain again
