. . . WHAT DID I JUST WATCH?
Director: Greg Tiernen and Conrad Vernon
Starring: Seth Rogan, Kristin Wiig, Michael Cera, Edward Norton, Salma Hayek, Jonah Hill, David Krumholtz, Craig Robinson, Bill Hader, Danny McBride, James Franco, Nick Kroll and Paul Rudd
Studio: Sony
Rated: R
Running Time: 1 Hr, 29 Mins
We’ve seen animated movies about sentient toys, insects, fish, rats, cars, ninja pandas, emotions, dinosaurs and earlier this year we got a movie about talking pets (in November we’ll get one starring talking troll dolls courtesy of Dreamworks Animation). So it’s only reasonable that we finally have one about talking food. In fact, it’s probably past due and the only reason it hasn’t been done yet is because no writer or animator has figured out how to tell a visual story about food that has a happy ending. After all, how does the hero ride off into the sunset when the whole point of the hero’s existence is to eventually ride off into someone’s digestive tract?
Sausage Party solves that dilemma by being a story of discovery that evolves into a struggle for survival. And all of it is buried beneath a mountain of dirty jokes, raunchy sight gags that could only be pulled off in a GCI cartoon and then even dirtier jokes that push the boundaries of good taste.
Honestly, I still don’t know if they pulled it off.
Every morning at the grocery store, the food greets the day with a hymn that reflects their entire existence. They pray that they are “chosen” by the “gods” that come in every day, and when they’re lucky enough be selected they are taken through the “Gateway” and into the “Great Beyond,” a paradise where they spend the rest of eternity. Frank the Sausage (Seth Rogen) and his girlfriend Brenda the Bun (Kristin Wiig) eagerly await their selection, something they expect to happen on the eve of Red White and Blue day (July 4th). And once chosen, they expect to finally be able to consummate their (sexually tense) romance in the Great Beyond.
But after a freak accident involving a jar of mustard who has seen the true fate that awaits all food beyond the doors of the grocery store (Danny McBride), Frank, Brenda and a handful of others find themselves out of their package and stranded on the open floor. Brenda decides to return to their respective aisles and find new packages in the hopes of being Chosen again while Frank’s curiosity becomes inspired by the suicidal Mustard’s ravings and he sets out on a quest to discover the truth. Frank and Brenda’s respective quests are complicated by Douche (Nick Kroll), a vengeful feminine hygiene product who has adopted a vampiric hunger for the fluids of his fellow groceries and is determined to hunt down and kill the two he blames for being left behind.
In case you hadn’t already guessed it, Sausage Party is not meant for kids, puritans or religious fundamentalists. Sexual innuendo doesn’t come anywhere close to describing it. It’s a high school boy’s locker room on steroids. And bath salts. There’s absolutely zero subtlety anywhere in this movie and it’s so hardcore that a trailer accidentally shown prior to a showing of Finding Dory in California traumatized the children in attendance. Seth Rogen has admitted in interviews he was genuinely surprised by what they got away with in the film, most notably the giant food orgy (a scene that’s like a CGI traffic accident, you want to look away but can’t help but stare, wide eyed and captivated, at images of simulated produce-on-produce porn).
But when the story isn’t genitals deep in sex jokes and ruthless images of living food being cooked and eaten alive (the sausage Barry-voiced by Michael Cera-even encounters used birth control on his journey back to the grocery store), Sausage Party makes some sly comments on pop culture. The debate that eventually divides Frank and Brenda mirrors the real time battle over religion, most notably the importance of empirical knowledge and the value and acceptance of faith. Party also boils down long standing geo-political conflicts into simple arguments between ethnic based food items (like Jewish bagels and Arabic Lavash for instance).
While most of the film’s less than nuanced observations into some of the world’s oldest fights are amusing, a few do border on tasteless (German sauerkraut making Holocaust jokes for example). Some of the racial stereotypes are likely to raise an eyebrow or two as well (like the aboriginal themed whiskey Firewater-voiced by Bill Hader). Then there’s Teresa, a lesbian taco (Salma Hayek) who fears giving into her homosexual impulses would be a sin against the Gods (a sentiment echoed about pre-marital sex as well). Sausage Party doesn’t hesitate to wallow in its over-sexualized humour, sight gags, weed jokes and ethnic finger pointing, no matter how far that may go.
Sausage Party probably pushes the envelope further than anything you’ve seen (even by Rogen and company’s admission). It’s definitely the dirtiest thing I’ve ever seen and it should be interesting to see if any retailers decide against carrying the DVD when its released (after The Interview, Rogen is no stranger to product controversy). In truth it’s a harmless, guilty little pleasure to help close out summer movie season. But be prepared; this movie doesn’t hold a single bar in pursuit of the crude punch line. But if it does get a few laughs without offending your sensibilities, well I guess it pulled it off in the end.
Photo: Sony Pictures Entertainment
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