Sausage Party is not for kids. I want to lead off with that, as it is the most important thing I’m gonna say in this review. This animated film, by the minds behind Superbad, This is The End, and Pineapple Express, centers around various forms of food waiting to be purchased to be taken to the promised land outside of the grocery. Unfortunately, halfway through the film, the food learns what we all know, and Sausage Party turns from a journey of self discovery into a war between us and them. Oh, and then it becomes an orgy. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Sausage Party stars Seth Rogen as Frank, a wiener with aspirations to finally get out of his package and get all up in his lady friend, Brenda (Kristen Wiig), a bun. On the annual Red, White, and Blue day, Frank and his friend, Barry (Michael Cera), a stubby, malformed wiener, are so looking forward to finally getting out of the grocery and out into the world. There’s even a song that the food collectively sings everyday (music by Alan Menken, yes, THAT Alan Menken) about how awesome it will be to be purchased and to be able to go through those sliding doors in front of the store.
It all starts to turn when a bottle of Honey Mustard (voiced by Danny McBride) is returned after seeing the “promised land.” Honey Mustard knows the truth and warns the others of the dangers outside the store. When he is selected again to be purchased, he decides to end his life by jumping from the cart, and Frank and Brenda try to stop him, resulting in a cart crash that causes a “clean up in aisle 4,” and all of the food get separated in the chaos. In the wreck, a Douche (voiced by Nick Kroll) is damaged and he blames the food for missing his chance to, you know, get up in there. To save his life, Douche begins to consume other juices, which makes him crazy, and now — driven mad with rage toward Frank and Brenda, and pumped full of liquid, he seeks to get revenge at all costs.
Yes, this is actually a movie.
Sausage Party is an offensive masterpiece that would make late 1970s/early 1980s Mel Brooks blush. There is a whole running gag about a jewish bagel (voiced by Edward Norton) and a middle eastern lavash — or flatbread/pita — (voiced by David Krumholtz) talking about their cultural and religious differences, after being forced to share an aisle. Of course there’s room for both, but neither side wants to admit it and would rather fight for the same spot of aisle space. I’m surprised the jack-booted, goose-stepping German Mustards didn’t get in on the conflict.
There is also the “unperishables,” an African-American-accented box of Grits (voiced by Craig Robinson), a bottle of Native-American-sounding Alcohol (voice by Bill Hader), and a Twinkie-like snack cake (voiced by Scott Underwood). Two of those are social commentary, the other is a myth.
And, of course, there is a flamboyant dance number by the fruits — literally. No social group is safe here.
Sausage Party does a great job of telling its story, and make no mistake, it is riotously funny in parts. But midway through the second act, I began to wonder what exactly was the end game here; how could the food have a happy ending, once they learned the fate they were created/processed for? Well, the writers, led by Rogen and Evan Goldberg, along with Kyle Hunter and Ariel Shaffir, didn’t care what I thought and ended the main arc with an all out war in the grocery store. And before the gravity of those actions can set in, the audience is treated to the most disturbing seven minutes in a movie this year, as all of the food partakes in a huge orgy. And let me tell you, you haven’t lived until you’ve seen a Salma Hayek-voiced Taco go down on a Kristen Wiig-voiced Bun — graphically.
Sausage Party is not for kids. Hell, it’s not for many adults. It is easy to be offended by what is going on here, but if this is the kind of movie you enjoy — you will absolutely love it. Heck, I’m not even sure why this isn’t rated NC-17, and can almost guarantee a true unrated version will be coming to DVD and Blu-Ray soon. There was just too much opportunity to go even further (and make no mistake, the boundaries were pushed very hard here), that if there isn’t some master unrated version, there will be sequels. God help us all, there could be sequels.
Sausage Party is rated R and is in theaters now.
