Review of Sausage Party (2016) by Mitch I — 09 Jul 2017

How is it that something so wrong can be so right? I have always said that a movie like Blazing Saddles could never be made again, but now, 42 years later, Sausage Party comes stampeding in to prove me wrong.

Granted, I am NOT comparing it to the genius that is Blazing Saddles, but as far as how terribly politically incorrect it is, it's in the same ballpark. The film offers up a "smorgasbord" of ethnic stereotypes and slurs, not to mention a blatant anti-faith message, so there is quite a wide selection of things to find offensive.

And I loved it because of it rather than in spite of it. It's as gloriously irreverent as a movie about sentient food can be... there is a same-sex oriented taco, a neurotic bagel, jars of goose-stepping sauerkraut, a sexually-predatory bottle of tequila, a box of brown grits who hates "crackers", a "juiced-up" douche (yes, literally).

.. the list goes on. The story is a bizarre medley of stoner/lowbrow humor and waxing philosophical, and yet, it really works. All the products at the grocery store are eagerly awaiting selection to go to "The Great Beyond", only to discover that only death and carnage await them on the other side of the store doors.

It skewers religion and faith in a way that film will rarely even try... this Sausage Party's got the balls to match. No "spoilers", (heh heh, I can't resist the food puns), but in the end, the moral of the story is about respecting each other.

.. even when you think everyone else is a totally deluded idiot. It's a theme I can relate to. True to form for Rogen and Co., it includes a ton of clever movie references, the best and most wrong of which is the Saving Private Ryan D-Day sequence.

I was howling. My only complaint is the ending, which just takes it too far and loses its intelligence in favor of shock value, which up until the point had been so carefully avoided. Overall, this film is an incredibly funny, offensive, and surprisingly thoughtful film.

I can't guarantee that you'll enjoy it, but I can guarantee that you've never seen anything like it.