There aren't enough animated films made for adults. They're almost never released anymore which makes little sense because there is always interest in them and money to be made. Beavis and Butt-head do America, South Park, Team America: World Police, Anomalisa... these movies give us sick adults the satisfaction we can never get from Pixar-- swearing. Imagine if Marlin from Finding Nemo went through the catastrophe of losing his only son in an R rated movie-- well, it probably wouldn't have been any better, but it would've had a little more violence and a lot more cursing. Really... it's just about the cursing. And that's what Seth Rogen and company have realized. Animated movies can be hilarious and made for adults. And, really, the only difference is cursing. Sure, I guess in some strange world Sausage Party could've been turned into a kids movie, but it's not... it's a Seth Rogen movie. Unfortunately, Sausage Party fails more often than it succeeds resulting in a movie that's lazier than anything Rogen has produced before.
Sausage Party is about grocery store food... if it was alive. We follow the exploits of a packaged hot dog named Frank (voiced by Rogen) in love with Brenda (Kristin Wiig), a hot dog bun he's in love with. All of the food in the grocery store sits and waits to be taken home by the Gods (us). However, Frank discovers that instead of going to a place of peace and paradise, food is actually tortured, disemboweled and eaten by the Gods. So, Frank, along with some other food, run around the store looking for proof to show the rest of the food that their expectations of an after-life were entirely wrong (a very un-subtle religion v. science "message"). During this mission, our heroes are being chased by an actual douche (voiced brilliantly by Nick Kroll).
The problem with the film is that it's not exactly that funny. By now we've come to expect a certain level of humor from Rogen and friends and a certain level of heart and humility to their films. Their track record is almost perfect. Each one has a blend of stoner humor, clever (yet vulgar) turns of phrase, self-awareness, and somehow a new and funny way to present a dick joke. Sausage Party doesn't really have this... minus, of course, the dick jokes. Sausage Party is, essentially, one huge, lazy dick joke. It feels like it was written by Rogen when he was twelve years old and just discovered drugs. There's very little that works within the film. Every food pun you can think of is in this movie... and that's the problem. We don't want the obvious food pun someone walking a random grocery store could make. We want the unexpected food-related jokes. They're almost entirely absent here (think horseradish as a horse... but not as funny). And beyond the food based puns, there isn't much humor to interject into the pun based characters. Our hero's entire characterization is that he's a hot dog who is supposed to bang a bun. He's not special in any way... he's just a hot dog... trying to bang... a bun. (BECAUSE HE LOOKS LIKE A DICK, GET IT?!?!?!). The rest of the humor is filled out by f-bombs, Edward Norton doing a weird Woody Allen impression, some c-bombs, some food sex, and obtuse ways of trying to shock you.
There are moments, very scarce moments, but moments in the film where the obvious actually works. The villain (again... a douche) talks with a Jersey accent, "juices" and acts like a complete, well, douche. There's a running gag that every time he speaks, he uses a food-based idiom (like "spill the beans") and said food peeks out from behind a corner asking if the douche was referring to him. There are a few little obvious moments like this that work throughout the film that elicited a chuckle or two from me, but mostly it was just a shit show. There's also a lot of what was shown in the trailer that has been expanded in the movie that actually works too. The Saving Private Ryan spoof with food, the horrific, yet hilarious murder of food right before it is cooked. In fact, a lot of the visual gags worked in the movie, but it is accompanied by some seriously unimaginative dialogue and writing. The movie is even a little bit too frenetic in its pacing and does feel a lot like a strange drug trip/mindfuck. There's none of the clever Rogen-esque characters and certainly none of the heart. I wonder if the movie suffers due to the fact that the actors weren't on set with one another and weren't as free to improvise as they normally are able to in their movies.
Yes, the movie has a very original and intriguing idea, but originality doesn't always mean quality. There are a lot of voices lent to the film (Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Salma Hayek, Paul Rudd, Danny McBride, Bill Hader, Craig Robinson, James Franco, Harland Williams) but almost everyone is underused, mostly because after a pun has been made about the type of food they're portraying, they're not left with much to do other than spew F-bombs or partake in a three minute, slightly graphic, food orgy (not kidding). And while I applaud Rogen for having the balls to present some of the offensive material he does in the movie (food orgy, actual violence, the attempt at conveying a message about the absurdity of religion), the end result leaves a lot to be desired.
D
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