Not all animated movies are for kids, or at least, certainly not Sausage Party. In the same year that Deadpool changed the the landscape for R-rated comic-book movies, Sausage Party vies to do the same for the even more rare R-rated animated film. Directed by the team of Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon, and based off a script penned by Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Kyle Hunter and Ariel Shaffir (Rogen and Goldberg share the story idea with Jonah Hill), it’s safe to say that you won’t find a raunchier or more offensive film, both live action or animated, than Sausage Party. It certainly earns every bit of its R rated, if not touching just “the tip” of the rare NC-17.
This tale of dirty food begins with a visit to a well-kept grocery story, moments before the store opens during the early hours of the morning. We follow the sleepy-eyed manager of the store as he sets up show. But this story isn’t about the humans, and we are soon welcomed into the world of talking, sentient food. They begin their day with a group sing-along song about being chosen by a god (the supermarkets customers), and to be a chosen one taken to “the great beyond,” where they will experience a glorious afterlife. Only, they have no idea about the horrific realities that await for them when their gods turn them into delicious meals during the upcoming Independence day, or as the food calls it, “Red, White, and Blue Day”.
Our cast of not so lovable edibles includes a hot dog named Frank (Rogen) who just wants to get inside of his love interest, a hot dog bun named Brenda (Kristen Wiig). With the impending “Red, White, and Blue Day,” Frank and Brenda hope to get selected together so they can finally become one snug connection. All is well and good in their world, until a jar of honey mustard (Danny McBride) is returned to the store after being mistakenly bought as regular mustard. Upon returning to the store he rants to his fellow food items that he was taken to the Great Beyond, and it was a great big horrible lie. The food are so attached to their beliefs and ignore his warnings, and soon Frank and company are sent on a mission to find out what really waits for them outside of their supermarket world, and what exactly their point of existence is.
The rest of the food group is rounded out by Frank’s best friend and fellow hot dog, Barry (Michael Cera), a Jewish bagel, Sammy (Edward Norton), an Arabian pita, Lavash (David Krumholtz), a lesbian Taco, Teresa (Salma Hayek), as well as the angry villain, Douche (Nick Kroll), who is out for revenge of the rest of the food for getting in the way of his trip to “the great beyond.”
Every racial sterotype is covered, from jokes about Hitler, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and even a Native American can of Firewater (Bill Hader), who naturally, was pushed out of his location of the grocery store that he got to first.
Tiernan and Vernon show us the difference between the dull reality (shown in dry, drab tones) and the world of the food (colorful and vibrant) making full use of the world of animation. When we see the food brutally executed in an amazing Saving Private Ryan-like scene at the grocery store, or when unlucky food is brought home for their untimely fate, the directors make full use of the animation format, diving deep into stunning violence and food brutality that is almost horrific if it wasn’t done in such a ridiculously funny manner.
This is all balanced out by the surprising themes that act as the glue between all the crude jokes and Tarantino-like animated violence. It’s hard to believe that in a raunchy animated film about talking food that the story weaves in discussions about religion and the purpose in its existence, touching upon both sides of the faith vs skepticism argument. Sure it may just scratch the surface of this discussion, but it’s surely there, and I was quite surprising to see the writing team even go there. This substance was nice between the too liberal use of the f-bomb and various other choice words, which Rogen and company had no problem dropping in what felt like every other sentence (although tons of clever food puns and ideas are executed so well you start to forgive them).
You know ahead of time there are groups of people out there just eagerly waiting to be offended, and the outrage is surely coming. No race or group of people are safe from the wrath of Sausage Party. You can already hear the cries of oblivious parents who give in to children’s wishes about seeing a movie that they probably think is the latest tale from Pixar (the film cleverly takes a stab at the studio in a Pixar-esque easter egg), a Toy Story-esque version with talking food.
But for those in the audience who are looking for a rowdy, ridiculous animated experience like no other, Sausage Party is definitely going to deliver what you want. A scene towards the end of the film that is quite literally food porn was so outragous that it is bound to be the stuff of cinematic legend. If seeing different items of food groups partake in a sex scene is the sort of thing that will “turn you off,” then you probably should find a different party to partake in.
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