– By Cate Marquis –
SAUSAGE PARTY wraps adult humor in cartoon food package
SAUSAGE PARTY is an animated comedy but in no way is this film for the kiddies. In what may be one of the weirdest animated films ever, cartoon food stuffs in a grocery store discover what really happens when they are chosen to go home with customers. Writers Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Ariel Shaffir and Kyle Hunter pack their script with potty humor, food-related puns and sexual double entendres. The story, on the surface, looks like many other animated films , where the characters go on a quest to recover a lost friend and discover a truth – if not for the pervasive R-rated content (sometimes X-rated except we are talking about animated food), foul language and drug humor. But just to keep everyone confused, SAUSAGE PARTY also throws in some religious references, surprising commentary on the conflict in Israel and calls for tolerance of sexual preferences.
Is it funny? Yeah, it is, in a raunchy, potty-mouth teen-aged boy sort of way.
A sausage named Frank (Seth Rogen), the hot dog bun of his dreams Brenda (Kristen Wiig), and their friends begin each day at the grocery store with a song about being “chosen” to go to the great beyond with a shopper. They image the wonderful, happy life that awaits beyond the store’s sliding doors. Although they are in love, they want to be good and have only “touched tips,” keeping themselves fresh for the great beyond. Still, Brenda worries that they have sinned and will be considered spoiled. Spoiled goods are consigned to the trash can, a dark and scary pit. When a jar of Honey Mustard (Danny McBride) is returned to the store, rumors circulate that the outside world might not be as heavenly as they have been told.
Conrad Vernon and Greg Tierman direct, but co-writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the minds behind SUPERBAD and THIS IS THE END, are clearly the creative forces here. Selma Hayek and Edward Norton also lend their voices, as Teresa Taco and Sammy Bagel Jr., although Sammy sounds suspiciously like Woody Allen. Sammy has an ongoing conflict with Lavash (David Krumholtz), a Palestinian food on the next shelf, who complains about settlements and so forth. The villain in this tale is a douche – literally – played by Nick Kroll. Jonah Hill and Michael Cera play Frank’s buddies Carl and Barry, Bill Hader plays Firewater, and Craig Robinson plays Grits. Paul Rudd and James Franco lend their voices to a pair of human characters, store clerk Darren and one called Druggie.
There are some products in the store who may know the truth, wise old souls in the non-perishables aisle. When Frank and Brenda’s friends are chosen but they are accidentally left behind, he sets out on a quest for the truth.
Whether all this strange, raunchy weirdness appeals will mostly depend on your own sense of humor, and appetite for food sex humor.
© Cate Marquis
