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This doggy adult comedy is unrelentingly gag-filled, foul-mouthed – and coming to a cinema near you. Its director talks about striving for a four-legged Stand By Me vibe, and how he adopted one of his star performersStrays may be a film about talking dogs but it boasts an obscenely stacked cast. There’s Will Ferrell, revisiting the sweet naivety of his Elf era. There’s Jamie Foxx, having more fun than he’s visibly had in a decade. Will Forte gets to be more obnoxious than he’s been since The Last Man on Earth. Jamie Demetriou pops up briefly. Sofía Vergara plays a settee. It’s all very impressive.At any other point in time, you would probably be reading an interview with one of these people. However, the ongoing Sag-Aftra strike means actors are not currently promoting their work, and so it is that I enter a Zoom call with Josh Greenbaum, the film’s director. I have to confess to a few worries about how the interview would go – after all, his job would have usually been to make the movie, not singlehandedly promote it. But I needn’t have worried. Calling from his home in California (background: height adjustable desk, Eames chair, one of his movie posters), it turns out that Greenbaum is easily enthusiastic enough for the job. Continue reading...