Sausage Party is a gigantic missed opportunity. An R rated nightmare of food’s becoming written by the dynamite duo of Seth Rogen/Evan Goldberg sounds like a home run. Instead, the movie teases strong ideas with tired to nonexistent laughter. Maybe some of the dramatic shift of this group of actors is affecting the comedy.
Frank (Seth Rogen) the hot dog is really excited. 4th of July is approaching, meaning he will be selected to go to the great beyond. There, he can hook up with hot dog bun Brenda (Kristen Wiig) and be with her forever. Unfortunately, Frank and Brenda get separated from their containers, and even worse, learn the truth behind the great beyond from returned/older products and friends. The two and their companions Sammy Bagel Jr. (Edward Norton), Lavash (David Krumholtz), and Taco Theresa (Salma Hayek), then try to figure out what to do while keeping away from the juiced up literal douche (Nick Kroll) chasing them.
Sausage Party, shockingly, is one of the best movies to date about the cause of atheism and drug use. Frank, Brenda, and everyone in the store believes that the great beyond justifies all of their strict behavior, forcing them to deny all of their urges to follow some random code that doesn’t explain everything that happens around them. It also shows how religious belief can become corrupted and project self-service more than a belief system (German sauerkraut looks like a notorious evil man). Sammy Bagel Jr. and Lavash live near each other, share common friends (hummus), food aisles, and 99% beliefs, but cannot be friends apparently because of the codes they have chosen are minorly different; on paper, that sounds stupid right? The plight of atheists is also mocked by Sausage Party; as Frank learns the truth, he’s a dick to everyone, so no one is inclined to believe him. Being right isn’t enough, sometimes you need to help inspire at the same time. In addition, drug use is feared at first but then used as a key piece that awakens certain characters to their real surroundings. Essentially, Sausage Party wants the fundamentalism to stop, and let everyone just gather round and pass the bong around and have a relaxed chat.
The problem with Sausage Party is how it has been hyped and promoted. Instead of creating an R rated biting satire with the religious material, the movie CRAMS in one of Rogen’s juvenile pre-teen films about sexual repression. When the movie’s jokes focus on the satire of religious awakening and the world of talking food in a supermarket, the movie is at worst amusing and at best very funny (the third act is so crazy that you’ll laugh a lot since it is the logical conclusion). However, a majority of the jokes are food talking about how much sex they want to have. That in and of itself is fine, but the jokes are very lazy, as if the writers realized, oh crap, this is TOO smart for a movie about talking hot dogs, lets do some stupid jokes to cater to the audience. Sausage Party assumes the worst of its audience, and therefore frustratingly undercuts its pointed message because of studio urging, I would guess.
Sausage Party is maybe another sign of the fading of the Rogen era of comedy. These types of jokes might have killed a decade ago, but now they feel lazy and done better in other films. I can’t believe I expected MORE from a movie about talking hot dogs and hot dog buns. Then again, who thought an R rated hot dog animated film would have a stellar Saving Private Ryan parody?