***
Proof that Seth Rogan and Evan Goldberg really are allowed to get high, write down a zany idea and then make it for nineteen million dollars, Sausage Party is an R-Rated (in the US, MA in Australia) animated romp about processed foodstuffs questioning their faith. Seriously.
It is that angle – the hot dogs and buns, bagels and lavash breads trying to suss out whether their religion(s) are valid or whether they’ve been sold a crock – that is unexpectedly ambitious, and attempts to give this extremely off-beat exercise more depth than Rogan and Goldberg’s other low-budget, high-earning potty ventures Pineapple Express, Superbad, This Is The End and The Interview. But those films all have ambitious goals hidden within their wacky antics – The Interview, in particular, has a lot on its mind – and Sausage Party ultimately doesn’t have too much more to say than religion is bunk and we should all get along.
Unfortunately, the dialogue isn’t that sparkly either. Kristen Wiig’s bun Brenda is particularly depressingly written, a dull, no-fun and not-funny love interest for Rogan’s eager wiener Frank (ha!); were it not for the fact that he is a walking erection, there’d be no reason to believe he was besotted with her. There’s a lot of swearing and boundary pushing but not a lot of actual zingers, and the first act drags as it sets up its various characters, none of whom is a particularly brilliant creation.
What the film has – most surprisingly, given its pretty weeny budget – is enormous visual wit, and the final half hour or so is an exhilarating action sequence beautifully done, ending in a rather excellent sausage party indeed.