Okay, listen. I'm going to try and tell you just enough about this movie Sausage Party for you to decide whether or not you should see it. Honestly, I may not even have to say much at all. This not-so-subtle phallic poster should pretty much spell out precisely what you're in for. Look at the names in the cast there. Would you expect anything less from pretty much all of those people? I'm going to attempt to review this thing for you as best I can without giving anything away, so here goes...
Sausage Party is an animated film featuring the voice talents of Seth Rogen, Michael Cera, and Kristen Wiig among several others. It's about food and what happens when we purchase food from the grocery store to prepare at home. Oh, did I also mention that this lively cartoon about food pushes the boundaries of an R-rating further than Deadpool? Seriously, I cannot express this in any more dire a fashion - DO NOT bring your children to see this film!!! They will never eat again.
In terms of a story, picture Toy Story 2 and 3 with 500 F-bombs and sex jokes. Honestly though, beneath that veneer of crassness, Sausage Party is an iteration of Homer's "Odyssey" unlike any to come before it.
Frank (Rogen) is a hot dog, and Brenda (Wiig) is a hot dog bun. They are boyfriend and girlfriend and cannot wait for the day that they are removed from their packages and Frank can finally slide all up into Brenda. Yeah. That's this movie. The food at Shopwell's supermarket imagines that, when they are removed from the shelves by shoppers/"the gods," they are being chosen for an eternal life of bliss in the "Great Beyond." When a jar of Honey Mustard (Danny McBride) is purchased and later returned to the shelf, he claims that the "Great Beyond" is actually a living hell full of death and destruction. After the store closes for the night, Frank, Brenda, Lavash (David Krumholtz), Teresa the Taco (Salma Hayek) and Sammy Bagel, Jr. (Edward Norton, doing a decent Woody Allen impression) embark on a quest to discover the truth about their "gods" and what really happens when food leaves the store.
A whole lot of other wild shit happens, and along the way, our heroes meet lots of interesting characters. At it's core, this film tells an odyssey story, but it also explores the folly of both man and religion. I'm not kidding. Sausage Party actually has very worthwhile subtext, all told with food. It pushes boundaries throughout its trim 90-minute run time before finally, irrevocably, overstepping the line with possibly the most gonzo finale to a movie you're likely to ever see. Literally nothing you've seen before can prepare you. You'll have to either take my word for it or see it for yourself. It's just that bonkers.
(I'm not sure what kind of a final grade this movie warrants. It has so many compelling pieces which come together in unique ways, but it's a Seth Rogen comedy about talking food. Let it be known, however, that I will be encouraging grown adults to see this movie. That's endorsement enough.)
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