The movie opens in a supermarket called Shopwell's, where all our food friends sing a very funny, off-color musical number about their desire to reach "The Great Beyond." Apparently, every anthropomorphized item in this world believes that when a shopper chooses him/her, off they go into eternal Heaven (as opposed to the Hell of being eaten). Hot dog Frank (Seth Rogen) and bun Brenda (Kristen Wiig) are about to have their dreams come true when their packages are chosen during a 4th of July shopping spree when a jar of Honey Mustard (Danny McBride), having seen the true horrors of the other side, is returned to the store and upends everything. Stranded among the aisles and far away from home, Frank and Brenda begin an odyssey where they eventually learn the horrifying truth of their existence. And oh yeah, they also have to fend off the revenge-fueled villainy of a douche (Nick Kroll). No, really. An actual douche.
At some point watching an animated movie, even a great one, we've all had those twisted thoughts of "hey, how would these characters have sex?" or "do they ever do the crazy, adults-only shit that we do?" Oh, they do in Sausage Party, and they do it often with hilarious results. Food puns and sexual gags abound in this movie's world, and even when you're not busting a gut laughing, you'll at least be smiling and admiring the cleverness of it all. And it doesn't stop there, sending up race relations in the form of Kosher and Halal foods fighting for aisle space, a box of grits and a bottle of Firewater seething at how the crackers stole their land, and a sauerkraut army on a mission to "exterminate the juice." Or how about the movie's chief villain, a literal douche with a personality ripped straight from that of an obnoxious gym-obsessed bro? And then there's the food orgy scene, which is so wacky and envelope-pushing that it deserves the price of a ticket all by itself. You'll have to see it to believe it.
Directors Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon have made a movie very much in keeping with the Rogen/Goldberg canon. But Sausage Party rises to another level thanks to some surprisingly on-target commentary regarding religious fanaticism. The myth of the Great Beyond, how the characters deconstruct it, and the anger with which some react to having their beliefs questioned (even though they're objectively wrong) is fascinating. There's also the idea that certain characters (like Brenda) have in their heads that if they exercise "unclean" thoughts, the Gods will frown upon them. Sound familiar?The movie ultimately argues for an approach that unifies us in spite of our differences, which isn't all that different from a Disney/Pixar movie. But since Sausage Party is in no way intended for children, it can skip the family-friendly moralizing and go straight for the jugular the way top-notch South Park does.
Sausage Party feels alive. In a summer of countless sequels, remakes, and reboots, its creativity stands out from the pack. There's at least something amusing if not laugh-aloud funny around every corner, provided of course you're not easily offended. If you are... well... there's an angry thinkpiece right around the corner with your name on it. As a send-up of the classic animated movie formula where anthropomorphized creatures learn valuable life lessons, Sausage Party nails the sweet spot. You'll find yourself weirdly caring about these food-based characters even while laughing at their profanity-sex-and-weed-drenched adventures. And the social commentary, which the marketing team has smartly hid from the movie's advertisements, elevates this raunch-fest to the next level. Dig in and enjoy.
Rating: ***1/2 (out of ****)
It took me way to long to get the "exterminate the juice" thing. Very well-written review as usual. This sounds hilariously, brilliantly wrong ala South Park.
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