1 gibble out of 5

Director: Vin Diesel

Sorry, Vin.  “Strays” isn’t as ‘Sad’ as my one rating implies, but it’s not a very good movie.  The poor shooting and sound mixing can be attributed to the low budget, but the odd pre-mumblecore presentation feels like padding for the slim plot that appears.

Vin plays Rick, a tough guy who sells drugs on the side and acts as leader for his slim group of tough guys and wannabe tough guys.  Rick has bodybuilding posters in his apartment and isn’t unaware that his muscles get him the girls.  The film opens with several of his friends trying to bring girls back to his apartment but failing because Rick won’t unlock the door while he’s banging some chick.  I’m sure we can all relate to this comical moment because we’re all tough guys who love banging chicks, yeah?

But Rick wants to change, especially after meeting the pretty girl next door (whose name I can’t remember, because her shell of a character made such a huge impression upon me).  He goes out on some dates but manages to bungle it when his tough-guy lifestyle rears its head.  In some of the script’s more redeeming attempts, Vin’s presentation of events feels fairly honest, perhaps/probably drawing from life experience, but it can’t conquer the overall self-serving spin of the movie, nor elevate Vin’s stumbling and mumbling acting style.

“Strays” slots in with a lot of low-budget street films, though instead of Scarface as an influence, Diesel’s character mentions “Raging Bull.”  But it maintains the pompous stance of the genre, with life lessons sloppily espoused amidst swear words and an overall pretentiousness that it suggests that this is some serious shit.  It attempts to capture some real moments and does, with some effort, but it’s hardly worth sitting through the rest of the film for those glimmers.