Sausage Party - Es geht um die Wurst

Sausage Party is a foul, crass, mean-spirited little film that pits grocery products against the horrifying realization that their use in this world is to be consumed and tossed away without a second thought. Centering on a courtship between a sausage named Frank (Rogen) and a hot dog bun named Brenda (Wiig), the very fact that the discontented ten year old in all of us didn't just giggle at the thought of how they consummate their love is enough proof that this film is juvenile. Yet despite leaning, nudging and winking towards the least discerning of low-brow audiences, Sausage Party is funny enough to have people rolling in the aisles, smart enough to lend itself to cogent meta-commentary and vulgar enough to live in teenage-screen-hopping infamy. Make no mistake, this film is the brass ring, the real deal, the funniest film you're likely to see this year and given this year in comedy, I say it's about damn time.

Before the events of Sausage Party, Brenda and Frank live inside their separate packages; Frank being partnered with friends Carl (Hill) and the diminutive Barry (Cera) among others. Every morning, the denizens of Shopwell sing a song of joy while they lay in waiting for a benevolent god (human) to choose them and take them to the "great beyond". Failure to be chosen, or worse dropped on the floor, means produce is to be thrown away in a seemingly bottomless abyss of a grocery store garbage bin. Frank and Brenda however like their chances. It's a few days till red, white and blue day; what could go wrong? One returned container of Honey Mustard (McBride) who forecasts doom is what can go wrong. That and a particularly testy Douche (Kroll) angered by a grocery cart accident that sullies his chances to be useful.

As an animation, Sausage Party is artfully, colorfully and simplistically rendered. Each section of the grocery store lights up with a look and feel that compliments the local produce. After the doors close the Mexican food area resembles a rustic western cantina, the cookware section beams with the silvery glow of shimmering straight edges and the alcohol aisle is just one big rave. Environments outside the store are limited yet realistically depict the kitchen of a prim housewife and the dingy living room of a bugged out druggie. The less I tell you about the brief street scene, the better. Overall, it's obvious there were limitations in the budget yet if compared to the similarly themed Foodfight! (2012), this film's animation is an artistic triumph.

The embedded oddness of the story lends itself to some pretty unique and funny jokes. Ones that hit the funny-bones of all not easily offended or grossed out. Such highlights include a bagel (Norton) and a lavash (Krumholtz) arguing about having to share an aisle, a Grits (Robinson) package being misplaced by "dirty good-for-nothing' crackers," and legions of sourkraut looking to exterminate the juice. Needless to say there are times when the film get's lost in the tall grass with over-broad ethnic stereotypes (A Native American liquor bottle named Firewater certainly ranks among the most egregious). But let's face it, if you're sold on the premise of a R- Rated animated comedy about food-stuffs you probably won't be too concerned.

Sausage Party is a funny, funny, funny movie that doesn't just hand in shock value laughs for the sake of shock value laughs. It's also a well-created hero's journey with something to say and avoids all the pratfalls of modern comedy by A: not relying on broad improvisational humor and B: lands that third act like it's its b***h! Speaking of which: don't take your kids to go see Sausage Party. This is not the film you can harangue "cool mom" points with, seriously. Keep those little tykes at bay at least until their old enough to purchase their own heroin syringes.

Sausage Party, the latest button-pusher from Seth Rogen and his usual crew, has so far grossed $135 million on a $19 million budget, receiving mainly positive reviews from critics and assisted by strong word-of-mouth thanks to a climactic scene which won't allow you to look at a hot dog in quite the same way again. Essentially a movie about anthropomorphic, sexually repressed food items who long to escape the confines of their supermarket home to reach the 'Great Beyond' - taken home by us humans - Sausage Party is a mixed bag. On one hand, it's a bold religious parable featuring some extremely creative animation, but on the other, at least comedy wise, this is on par with some of Rogen's most mediocre output.

In a supermarket named Shopwell's, the various tasty treats that line the shelves spend their days praying they will be picked and taken to the great unknown by shoppers, who they view as gods. Each morning starts with a sing-a-long, and they try to live their life by a set of rules they believe will led to them being chosen, including no sex until they're out of their packet. Hot dog Frank (Rogen) only allows himself to touch tips with the bun he's in love with, Brenda (Kristen Wiig), saving themselves for the inevitable day when they get carried off into paradise. But with the return of Honey Mustard (Danny McBride), who claims that he witnessed torture and horror at the hands of the 'gods' who devoured some of his friends, Frank sets off on a journey of discovery and awakening.

Similar in many ways to Pixar's Toy Story trilogy, Sausage Party imagines what it would be like if the food we consume to eagerly could talk to each other and wonders what they would make of us. But while Woody and co. would flop to the ground whenever a human walked in the room, the characters here exist in the 'fourth dimension', unseen by humans. This allows more freedom for directors Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon to deliver as many outlandish set pieces as they would like, and two scenes in particular - one inspired by Saving Private Ryan (1998) and the other featuring an Irish potato being skinned alive while his friends watch - are actually quite terrifying. The film is certainly at its best during these moments, and there are scenes of real ingenuity amongst the carnage.

The first half whizzes by and is a blast, but then the film seems to lose direction and wander aimlessly from one scene to another. It also struggles to tickle the funny bone, and relies too heavily on tired food puns, familiar shtick from the likes of James Franco, Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Paul Rudd and Bill Hader, and outright vulgarity. Someone should point out to the writers - which include Rogen and regular collaborator Evan Goldberg - that using "f**k" every other word doesn't automatically make a film 'adult', but quickly becomes unpleasant and completely unnecessary, especially when the characters are otherwise perfectly likable. Also, the inclusion of Douche (Nick Kroll), the cavity-cleaner who holds a grudge against Frank, serves only a distraction from the more interesting central plot.

Still, despite its many flaws and irritating tics, I very much enjoyed Sausage Party for what it is, and it's like nothing I've ever seen before. If you haven't enjoyed much of Rogen's previous output, chances are you won't love Sausage Party, although there's plenty of visual splendour to savour in between the d**k jokes. At its best, it offers interesting parallels to real-world issues, such as the relationship between a lavash named Kareem (David Krumholtz) and a bagel named Sammy (Edward Norton doing a pitch-perfect Woody Allen impression), and their bickering over shelf space. Of course, this is the edible version of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and while it may embrace comedic stereotyping throughout, Sausage Party never intends to offend, and instead offers a surprisingly sympathetic message about the necessity of religion. Whatever your view, the fact that a film like this can be greenlit and unleashed on a mainstream audience is cause for celebration.

Okay, to start this off: this movie is definitely NOT for kids. It definitely deserves its R-rating. Sausage Party is one of those movies that will make you say: what the hell am I watching?

To be frank(see what I did there?), this movie fulfilled every bit of expectation I had, no more and no less in its "well, I think I've seen enough" factor. What I mean by that, is that this is the most vulgar and xenophobic animated movie I've ever seen but in a good way. As obnoxious as this movie is, I can't help but giggle half the time when I'm watching it, even though how disgusting and indecent some of the scenes are, especially at the end. And mostly because of that, I will never see food the same way ever again(the animation is pretty good though).

Maybe my only true complaint about this movie was the ending, since it seems it was just tacked in there "just because" but to be fair, the movie was already weird as it is. So yeah, the ending for me felt kinda random and I feel that it should've ended in that particular scene before it but overall, I don't think it won't affect what most people thought about this film. Though I expect that this movie will offend a lot of people but to hell with that! let your immature side take over for a while and enjoy this film about food getting it on and on and on..... and on.

If you like humor that is both weird and outrageously crass but still remotely funny, then look no further since Sausage Party is the movie for you.

It's crass, offensive and wild and I loved it for that. To say the characters are a trip is an understatement. You can tell the cast had fun with their roles. Everyone brings in their A-game. It's so shockingly funny you'll be rolling on the floor from laughter while also gasping. It also surprisingly has some good commentary about beliefs and fate when you think about it. Seth Rohan created another great comedy! Check it out for yourself.

Vulgar, disgusting, hilarious and brilliant all rolled into one.