Woof.

“Strays” follows a dog (voiced by Will Ferrell) who is abandoned by his owner (Will Forte), and with the help of a pack of stray dogs (voiced by Jamie Foxx, Isla Fisher, and Randall Park) sets out to get revenge; Josh Greenbaum directs.

This was originally due out in June, but for several reasons was pushed back to August, historically a dumping ground for studios. And this film belongs in the dump, because between the surface-level jokes and cheap-looking talking dog animations, it’s a ruff way to end what has mostly been a classic-feeling summer at the movies.

Generally speaking I like Will Ferrell, though it should be noted his best films (“Talladega Nights,” “The Other Guys,” “Anchorman”) are rated PG-13 and his worst (“Semi-Pro,” “The House,” “Step Brothers”) are rated R. Similar to Adam Sandler, I’m not sure if the constraints of a PG-13 rating force Ferrell to be more creative with his comedy instead of falling back on a cuss word, but “Strays” is just another name on the list of his R-rated films that doesn’t work.

Both Ferrell and Jamie Foxx are *inches* away from being in “mailing it in” territory, not really choosing to do anything special (or funny) with the characters. They both riff and seemingly improv, because I find it hard to believe a script this aimless, unfunny, and light would get green lit (I take that back, look at “Thor: Love and Thunder,” but you get my point). The whole plot hinges on one gag that runs out of steam by the 20 minute mark, and that’s only if you didn’t see the trailer, which has been airing since February and spoils all the semi-decent jokes (all three of them).

The supporting cast manage to get a few small chuckles, with Randall Park having a funny delivery and Josh Gad showing up in a poke at his “A Dog’s Journey” role (plus there’s a cameo that made me laugh simply because of how random it is).

The dog actors themselves are pretty talented, staying in place or doing tricks when needed. However the film has the dog’s mouths move when they speak and it looks pretty bad. Like, it looks about on-par with the talking baby animations in “Super Babies 2,” and that was a critically panned film from 2004.

“Strays” isn’t the most painful bad comedy ever, but it just feels like a soulless project that wastes a few good ideas on a half-baked premise. There are nuggets of a smarter film in here (they poke fun at dogs hating fireworks and mailmen, and how animals narrating movies is inherently silly), but this just never takes off the ground. Normally I’m pro-adoption, but this is one mutt that needs to be put down.

Critics Rating: 4/10