SAUSAGE PARTY
(director: Conrad Vernon/Greg Tiernan; screenwriters: Seth Rogen, Evasn Goldberg, Kyle Hunter, Ariel Shaffirwhich/from a story by Rogen, Goldberg, Jonah Hill; editor: Kevin Pavlovic ; music: Alan Menken; cast: Voices: Seth Rogen (Frank / Sergeant Pepper), Kristen Wiig (Brenda), Jonah Hill (Carl), Bill Hader (Firewater / Tequila / El Guaco ), Michael Cera (Barry), James Franco (Druggie), Danny McBride (Honey Mustard), Craig Robinson, Paul Rudd (Darren), Nick Kroll (Douche), David Krumholtz (Lavash), Edward Norton (Sammy), Salma Hayek (Teresa); Runtime: 89; MPAA Rating: R; producer: Megan Ellison/Seth Rogen/Evan Goldberg/Conrad Vernon; Columbia Pictures; 2016)
“Most gags are cooked on the raw side.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
An adult animation comedy that’s filled with offensive juvenile food jokes and cursing. Most gags are cooked on the raw side. It’s energetically co-directed by Conrad Vernon (“Monsters vs. Aliens”) and Greg Tiernan (“Mighty Messes”), who explore the secret lives of supermarket products. Rogen and Evan Goldberg write the screenplay from their story. Others contributing to the script include Kyle Hunter and Ariel Shaffirwhich. Frank (Seth Rogen) is a sausage link in the supermarket who has eyes for the hot-dog bun called Brenda (Kristen Wiig), sitting on a nearby shelf. Edward Norton scores as an argumentative Jewish bagel having a territorial dispute with an Arabic flatbread (David Krumholtz). Salma Hayek is a Sapphic taco who attempts to lure a straight innocent to take a walk on the wild side. Michael Cena is a diminutive sausage. The plot is built around jokes about food characters who have human feelings. The surprise is that there are serious asides to theology and faith amidst all the nonsense. It turns on Frank acting semi-religious, when seeking enlightenment over the problem of how an empty life awaits those in the outside world. The story is both smart and dumb, raunchy, subversive, and at times very funny. It works best as a parody of Pixar family animation films.
REVIEWED ON 12/26/2016 GRADE: B-