Once you look past the self-congratulatory, consistently f-bomb dropping for the sake of f-bomb dropping groceries, "Sausage Party" tries to make a point. It's even occasionally effective in its philosophical agenda.
Your children might be begging you to take them to the animated food comedy but don't. This is very much a hard R-rated film, which works overtime to achieve that rating. So desperate to push the envelope of social decency, "Sausage Party" never really takes the time to slow down and be truly hilarious. There are scattered laughs throughout, and it's an easy-breezy watch but never ascends to more than that.
I did, however, find myself enjoying the clever intricacies and details of the animation. Some of the quips and gags are a little too on-the-nose and some are just plain inspired. But all I could muster is a smile or a chuckle but rarely a full laugh.
"Sausage Party" starts on a cheerfully optimistic note, where all of the groceries in the supermarket sing together about life outside of the store, which they call The Great Beyond. A sausage named Frank (Seth Rogen) spends his life in a package waiting to be taken with his friends to the mystical place. He has had his eyes on Brenda the bun (Kristen Wiig) and hopes to be selected from the shelf with her.
A customer finally picks the two packages. This is it; Frank and Brenda will finally be together. Frank gets to leave with all of his sausage friends, including Carl (Jonah Hill) and the deformed Barry (Michael Cera). Their dreams of The Great Beyond are altered when a returned Honey Mustard (Danny McBride) distorts the notion of the outside world.
Frank must prove to his fellow groceries that maybe what they have believed all this time isn't true. Maybe the world outside of the supermarket isn't what they should aspire to. Frank becomes wrapped-up in his existential crisis and "Sausage Party" begins to have more on its mind than swearing.
You have to give "Sausage Party" some credit for being kind of daring. Here is a movie that is packaged like a Happy Meal for adults and really wants to make you think. Its agenda isn't to proclaim that there is no higher power but maybe to reassess how much emphasis one puts on the power of such beliefs. While Rogen's films are all bongs and bros (and there is some of that here), "Sausage Party" actually has some substance. It's the most shocking thing about this film because we have seen this kind of crude content before.
Rogen wrote the script with Kyle Hunter, Ariel Shaffir and his partner Evan Goldberg, with Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon directing (The pair have made much more family friendly animated movies). The energy is kept high by the entire creative team but one could only wished the outlandish premise could have produced bigger laughs.
Rogen and his buddies, as always, are having a great time. Rogen has found people he is comfortable working with and works well with. He's like Adam Sandler, except funny and cares. The supporting voice cast all have great moments, including Selma Hayek's sultry Teresa Taco and Nick Kroll's Douche. The standout performance goes to Edward Norton's Sammy, channeling Woody Allen as a bagel.
Ads for "Sausage Party" have been everywhere and sheer curiosity will get you to the theater. You'll be expecting to laugh a lot but you'll only laugh here and there but come out wondering what it all means. Who would have thought?
| Movie title | Sausage Party |
|---|---|
| Release year | 2016 |
| MPAA Rating | R |
| Our rating | |
| Summary | "Sausage Party" is the R-rated animated comedy that relishes in its crude humor but actually tries to be something deeper. It's clever but uneven. |
