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Home / Entertainment

Movie review: Sausage Party

TimeOut
8 Sep, 2016 08:30 AM2 mins to read

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Unfortunately, Sausage Party is not funny, with the only jokes consist of dropping f-bombs, getting high and getting laid.

Unfortunately, Sausage Party is not funny, with the only jokes consist of dropping f-bombs, getting high and getting laid.

Dumb can be funny. Stupid can be funny. Offensive can be funny. Seth Rogen can be funny. The new animated comedy Sausage Party is stuffed to bursting with all of those things. Disappointingly it's just not that funny.

Basically Sausage Party is a sniggering, dirty spin on the typical Pixar film. With the one big joke being that it's cartoons - as opposed to people - that are dropping F-bombs, getting high and getting laid.

Rogen and his writing partner Evan Goldberg have created a world where supermarket produce can't wait to be "chosen" by the gods (us, hungry humans) and whisked away into "the great beyond" where all kinds of sexy, dirty fun pleasures await.

When Penut Butter loses Jam in the film Sausage Party. Photo / AP
When Penut Butter loses Jam in the film Sausage Party. Photo / AP

But when a jar of mustard is returned, shell-shocked and claiming that only grim death awaits outside the sliding doors, the beliefs of Rogen's hot dog Frank are shattered, and he sets off on an R-rated journey through the aisles in search of the truth.

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The best thing about the movie is that you can never tell what filthy, outrageous or filthily outrageous thing is about to happen next. The worst part about it is that it's comedy feels old and outdated.

Well, I wasn't expecting sophisticated comedy. And in that regard I wasn't disappointed.

But I also wasn't expecting higher ruminations on the existence or not of God, the suggestion that the religious conflict in the Middle East could be solved with a little - or, rather a lot of - man on man lovin', characters shooting up bath salts or a wild, anything goes, orgy.

Brenda, voiced by Kristen Wiig  and Teres  voiced by Salma Hayek in a scene from Sausage Party. Photo / AP
Brenda, voiced by Kristen Wiig and Teres voiced by Salma Hayek in a scene from Sausage Party. Photo / AP

The marriage of rude, crude and stupid with deeper, philosophical questions gives the film a veneer of substance and certainly makes for an unpredictably wild party. But one that looks a whole lot more fun than it is.

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Cast: Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, Edward Norton
Directors: Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan
Running time: 89mins
Rating: R16
Verdict: Don't RSVP to this party, it will leave you hungry for some laughs.

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