'Sausage Party' Brings Raunchy Laughs and an Oscar Worthy Song

Rating: 8/10 (11 August 2016)

Animation has never been such a fantastic blend of fun and dirty as seen in "Sausage Party" from Sony Pictures. Created as the movie your perverted older brother made in high school but you can't help but love him for it, the definitely offensive but enthusiastically rapturous romp is the surprise hit of the summer.
Directors Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan helm the ship that was written by Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen, Kyle Hunter, and Ariel Shaffir with a steady hand as they play off social and racial stereotypes in the vein of something we would have seen on "South Park." Trickle in a talented voice cast that includes Rogen, Oscar nominees Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill, James Franco, Edward Norton, and Salma Hayek, and you got a formula for something downright hilarious.
"Sausage Party" takes no prisoners as the profanity and graphic nature makes an educated film-goer wonder "how the hell did this just get an 'R' rating from the MPAA?" Shock value will bubble to the brim and likely spill over as we see food make sexual advances, dirty and used condoms interact with a smaller hotdog, and an orgy that might manage to trump any movie in the last 15 years.
Taking the "Toy Story" premise and asking the question, what if food could talk? "Sausage" gives its characters a dynamic range of emotions as they mix in the very questions of today that marry the ideas of religion, purpose, and tolerance. I'm sure somewhere deep in the bones of every Pixar writer in the world, they've wanted to make THIS kind of movie. Why wouldn't they? The animation is tenderly bright and vibrant, creating a world of chaos but clarity. They work through the material with a bold and fearless nature that the Academy Awards would feel so lucky to be included among their Animated Feature nominees in 2017.
Stepping outside the box with a raunchy song, Alan Menken's compositions and work stand just as high as anything delivered this year so far. Vivaciously alive in every beat, you can't help but smile ear to ear as the party rolls on. I'd surely say Menken is the hunt for an Oscar nomination in Original Song.
The rest of the voice works of Bill Hader, Michael Cera, Danny McBride, Craig Robinson, Paul Rudd, and ESPECIALLY Nick Kroll are purely delightful.
This is not the movie for Mom, unless your mother is awesome in every way. This is not the movie for your kids, because I can't wait to hear the headlines of the general audience goers that brought their kids to see thinking it was just a "cute cartoon." This is not the movie for your sophisticated movie friend because he or she is probably going to call you dumb for laughing at the jokes. This IS the movie for the Friday night, bring your girlfriend or boyfriend, watch their jaws drop, and enjoy the company of just plain old fun at the movies.