Sausage Party (2016)

Dir: Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon 

Sony Pictures

Sausage Party is a computer animated movie in the style of Pixar, and it is NOT a family film. Full transparency here, this review will include very small spoilers, but won’t give the movie away. I got your back, internet.

The basic premise is “what if food was sentient?” Much of the flick takes place in a grocery store (which is misrepresented by the trailers) and features anthropomorphized food items, excitedly waiting to be taken to the Great Beyond by the Gods (humans).

I get the impression that Seth Rogan came up with the idea while indulging in his favourite pastime and contemplating his munchies. How there wasn’t a “herb” joke made is beyond me (unless there was and I missed it). Perhaps that’s too on the nose even for this flick.

Does Sausage Party earn its 18A rating (R in the States)? Yes. Yes it does. This film is extreme. Think South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut, or Team America: World Police. It is filled with graphic language, which starts off funny, becomes tired, and then becomes funny again. It’s really violent, despite the fact that it’s food. So does that count? Hmm. Perhaps, if only because it reminds us of the graphic realism that was the opening of Saving Private Ryan in a perfect parody. And yes, there’s sexual content, and it goes pretty far. Not the uncut version of Team America far, but certainly on par with the Team America theatrical cut.

Like South Park itself, everyone and everything is skewered in this movie and nary a punch is pulled. Rape? Check. DudeBro culture (the antagonist is very much a DudeBro, voiced exceptionally well by Nick Kroll, but I shan’t tell you what he is because it’s too good)? Check. Religion? Check. The relationship between Israel and Palestine? Check. Drug culture (I have to say, seeing a character in the style of Pixar injecting bath salts is too delightful for words)? Check. Homosexuality? Check. The list goes on.

I mentioned religion above, which brings me to an aspect of the movie that, those who know me will probably be surprised that I was bothered by. The film has a pretty strong atheistic message. Our hero Frank (Rogan), unlike the rest of the food, isn’t quite sold on the Gods and the Great Beyond, having never seen anything that can prove their existence. While his stance does soften somewhat in the end, it does come off as rather preachy, assuming that one can PREACH atheism. Seems like a little paradoxical, but let’s move on, shall we?

The cast does a solid to excellent job across the board. I find Rogan’s voice funny as it is. And he brought all his pals along with him. Michael Cera, Jonah Hill, James Franco (aka Jiminy Frankfurt), the always likeable Kristen Wiig, Craig Robinson, an unrecognizable Bill Hader (I thought it was Johnny Depp), Paul Rudd, David Krumholtz, Salma Hayek, Anders Holm, Harland Williams, Danny McBride, the aforementioned Nick Kroll, and an wonderful turn from Edward Norton (doing his best Woody Allen impression) round out the cast.

The soundtrack makes sparing use of licensed music, but every song lands perfectly to set the scene with big laughs, aside from Joy to the World by Three Dog Night over the closing credits. I f*cking hate that song.

The ending of the film clearly sets up a sequel, which, given the premise, would be a very different movie, and one I would be curious to see. It also gets fairly meta, in a way that made me laugh even though it felt a little out of place.

Finally, the big question: is it funny? Yes, and no. I’m disappointed to say that the movie is far more clever than it is funny. In some ways, it’s a very smart movie. The way the filmmakers envision certain foodstuffs as living beings (bottles of horseradish as galloping horses for instance) really is quite clever. Unfortunately, this flick did not deliver the consistent belly laughs that I expect from the motley crue that is the Rogan camp. Yes, there were a few moments throughout where I was having trouble breathing due to uproarious laughter, but, sadly, they were few, and far between. In fairness, we all know that laughter is contagious, and I saw this by myself in a pretty empty theatre (I have been considering writing a rant in defence of seeing a movie alone, as I don’t get the stigma against it. Let me know in the comments if you’d like to read that), so that may have contributed to it.

Still, I wish I would have laughed harder.

6.5/10

Have you seen Sausage Party yet? Is there another movie you’d like to see me review? I’d love to read your thoughts. Hit the comments section and let’s discuss! And please, share this post if you liked it. Thanks for reading!