Sausage Party | Film Review

Remember when you were a kid (if you’re over 30) and you would go to the drive-in with your parents, and just as intermission started, you were treated to the most lewd commercial in the history of mankind? You know the one. It had that incessant jingle of ‘Let’s All Go To The Lobby’ and focused, deeply, on how tasty a living hot dog would be, especially after he obscenely leaps into a filthy little hot dog bun jezebel for a bout of drive-in innuendo. Apparently, “Sausage Party” creators Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg love that commercial too, because their movie is an animated origins film of that copulating couple.

“Sausage Party” takes place at Shopwell’s, a typical supermarket where the food is actually alive. With eyes, feet, and voices. Think Disney’s talking animals as delicious treats and you’ll get the idea. Every day begins with a joyous song celebrating every food’s potential to be selected for ‘The Great Beyond’, essentially food heaven (the religious overtones are about as subtle as Mel Gibson at a police checkpoint).

Our story centers on Frank (Seth Rogen), a hot dog in love. He spends every day of his date-stamped package life pining for the moment when he finally gets to climb into the luscious bun of his yeast-mate, Brenda (Kristen Wiig). Everything is coming up coupons it seems, as Frank and Brenda – and all of their fellow foodie friends – are selected for their turn in that glorious ‘Great Beyond’. Unfortunately, an unhinged Honey Mustard (Danny McBride…basically doing the one character he does) and one literal Douche (Nick Kroll in full Dude-Bro mode), collectively throw everything into chaos.

As Frank’s friends venture to what they think will be salvation, Frank and Brenda are trapped in the supermarket and are forced to confront the vicious truth – which Frank’s friends Barry (Michael Cera) and Carl (Jonah Hill) learn up close and personal – ‘The Great Beyond’ is not a magical land of splendor. It’s a sadistic hell where the humans maim, murder and devour them all.

Let me just say, R-rated or not, this is the wittiest use of an animated story since “Inside Out”. From the concept to the uses of various foods as archetypes. It’s all extremely clever and a lot of what you encounter in “Sausage Party” wreaks of ingenious design. Also, for a $20 million dollar film (a pittance compared to giants like Pixar), the animation here is near flawless. If you told me “Sausage Party” was Disney’s stab at naughty cartoons, I’d be your sucker.

Not only is the animation solid, the voices Rogen & Co. collected – ostensibly every actor Seth Rogen has ever worked with, baring the glaring omission of one Katherine Heigl – are spot-on and pitch perfect for each and every character in the film. Sure, Rogen is basically just playing Seth Rogen, but it works. Wiig, free from live-action trappings, gets to free herself a bit and play in the Rogen sandbox. You also have notable and respectable actors like Salma Hayek and Edward Norton throwing themselves into the raunchy mix.

So, why isn’t this a good movie?

Don’t get me wrong, “Sausage Party” has moments, and there are many. Several times you will crack up laughing either at what just happened, or the sheer audacity they had in giving it a try. Ultimately, the story just falls flat – the script completely wastes many of those voice actors I mentioned – and the film cannot maintain a consistently entertaining tone throughout. It becomes a one-joke-pony. And, for me, its worst crime was allowing itself to fall into the ‘Rogen Trap’, which means whenever things are going well and your audience is enraptured, be sure to smash in every single weed and lame sex joke you can think of to grind your film to a screeching halt. Trust me, it’s a thing.

If you’re intrigued in the least, see “Sausage Party”. Humor is always subjective, and you might enjoy the 27^th dick joke or 33^rd stab at bath salts far more than I did. Maybe you’ll even appreciate the literal representation of food porn – hey, everyone has their thing, no judgments here.

In pieces, “Sausage Party” has moments of greatness. As a movie, I liked it better when it was called “South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut”.