“Sausage Party,” directed by Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan, will reel you in with actors Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, and James Franco, but will end up being a waste of 90 minutes and the cost of a movie ticket, unless you happen to be into watching animated food pornography.
The audience is introduced to Frank, a hot dog voiced by Rogen, and Brenda, a bun voiced by Kristen Wiig, sitting on their display, flirting through their plastic bags. In order for them to be together, they realize they must be purchased and taken to the “great beyond,” what the food call the outside world. Surprisingly enough, Frank and Brenda’s bags are chosen together, but as they head for the cash register, the shopping cart falls, killing and injuring some of the food, and setting the rest free. Among the survivors are Frank and Brenda, who must find their old shelves. Along the way, Frank stumbles upon the imperishables, three foods that are immortal and have been living in hiding. They warn Frank that the “great beyond” is not what they believe it to be.
Despite it’s 83% grade on rotten tomatoes, Rogen and Hill have both been involved in much higher quality films. Hill’s “21 Jump Street” was an instant hit, while only receiving 2% higher rotten tomatoes. Rogen has been the lead actor in movies such as “The Interview” and “Step Brothers,” and appeared in titles like “Anchorman” and “Pineapple Express,” as well as “Superbad,” co-starring with Hill.
Rogen has also done successful animations in the past, voicing for Mantis in “Kung Fu Panda.”
Vernon, best known for his work on the film “Shrek,” not only failed to impress this time around, but made me look at food in a new, revolting way.
The humor is more rude and raunchy than funny, and gets way too carried away at times, particularly when they reference the holocaust by making fun of the juice, which sounds like “jews,” and create a similar counterpart for the Nazi’s. The last ten minutes of the movie is a giant orgy, where a middle eastern tortilla and a bagel finally share their love for each other, and Frank and Brenda get to fulfill their sexual fantasy, in more detail than anyone needed.
Two viewer’s exited the theater shortly after the movie started, and I caught my friend turning to his phone for a better source of entertainment. I was left cringing and very uncomfortable by the end. It is very hard to believe that Rogen and Evan Goldberg, the writer, had been working on this film for 10 years prior.